A Father's Heartache
by baglady101
Summary: Kyle comes home injured from the war, but there will also be a be a romance brewing between Horatio and Calleigh although, even though there are stiuations they find themselves in that should make it obvious, both are cautious.
1. Chapter 1

**A Father's Heartache**

Monday morning started as a normal day for Horatio Caine and his team of CSI's with their usual briefing on cases that were handled over the weekend. One case in particular, Horatio dreaded discussing, but was one of the most important. It involved the death of a 4 year old girl who, according to preliminary autopsy reports, had been tortured to death by her father and after he was through, dumped her body on a public beach south of downtown where two surf fishermen had found her early yesterday morning.

"Tom," Horatio turned his attention to the medical examiner, "would you present your findings as of now to us?"

Tom began as everyone around the table listened intently.

"Baby Johnson, as I call her since we do not know her first name, had cigarette burns over 80% of her body, along with multiple contusions over her entire body. She was also sodomized," Tom solemnly told the team causing each member visible distress, as Horatio flinched and balled his fists while clenching his jaw as he stared down at the floor desiring to spend an hour in a locked room with the monster that did this to an innocent child; "I also found small pieces of cloth material inside her mouth and down her trachea, I would imagine from being gagged so her screams could not be heard. Traces of biological evidence under the girl's fingernails shows she fought her killer," Tom began flipping through sheets of paper in his report, "ah, yes a one Robert Johnson."

"Thank you Tom. Eric, Natalia I want you to complete the DNA and evidence testing on the child and pay close attention to evidence on her clothes. Ryan, Walter, continue canvassing the neighborhood to locate anyone who might have witnessed even the slightest indication that things were not normal at the Johnson home. "

"Frank…any reports of being close to finding this monster?"

"Not yet Horatio, but every unit has the APB information and if bastard is still in Miami, we will find him."

"Cal…" Horatio began then he looked up out into the hallway and saw two uniformed army officers being directed toward the glass conference room and suddenly he felt a wave of panic overtake his entire body.

Calleigh noticed Horatio's face suddenly drain of all color and he looked as pale as a sheet of paper so she turned to look out in the hall to find out what was affecting him so and saw the army officers, then she immediately knew why Horatio had abruptly stopped. The rest of the team turned around as well and stared out into the hallway. Calleigh felt fear grip in the pit of her stomach as her mind imagined the worse. Horatio's son, Kyle was stationed in Afghanistan in the horrible war currently active.

Calleigh quickly turned around as she sensed Horatio had moved close to her and he softly asked, "Calleigh…would you mind taking over for me?"

Calleigh looked into his blue eyes and saw the fear registered there. "Sure Horatio," she whispered as she reached out and tenderly touched his hand, hoping in some way the simple gesture would convey she was there for him if he needed her. Horatio responded to her touch with, "Thank you."

As Horatio approached the officers he felt a tightening in his chest along with nausea, accompanied by a deep feeling of dread as to the reason why they would come to the crime lab.

"Lieutenant Caine?" One of the young officers inquired.

Horatio looked apprehensive about answering, but quietly said, "Yes…how may I help you?" As he looked down momentarily and fidgeted with his sunglasses that were in his hands.

"Does your son Kyle Harmon-Caine serve in the 186th infantry division, U.S. Army in Afghanistan?" The officer inquired sympathetically.

Horatio slowly looked up at the man and answered, "Yes," feeling as if his knees were about to buckle when Eric walked up to one side of him and Frank on the other, standing close enough to let Horatio know they were there for him anticipating the news the officers came to give.

"Lieutenant, I am sorry to inform you…" Eric looked at Horatio and detected his friend looked as if he were about to pass out, "that your son has been injured in battle and is en-route from Germany to the Patton Army Medical Center in Chicago, Illinois."

Horatio slumped and Eric caught one arm and Frank the other and led him to a bench in the hallway to sit down. By this time all of the team had come out of the room to learn what was going on. Tom swiftly made his way over to Horatio, noticing the paleness of his face and began checking his pulse finding it had increased to a rapid rate.

Tom said, "Horatio, take deep breaths then, lean over and put your head down between your knees. You will be ok in a minute."

Calleigh kneeled down and placed a hand on Horatio's shoulder. In a couple of minutes, Horatio sat back up and was thoroughly embarrassed about causing such a scene.

"I'm ok…I'm ok…thanks for your concern folks," Horatio guiltily responded to the attention.

Horatio looked up at the officers and asked, "Can you tell me anything about his injury?"

One of the officers said as he handed Horatio a card, "The hospital number and address where your son is being sent is on this card, but we have no information concerning his condition."

Horatio took the card and stared at it not really able to make out the printed information right now as he was having some difficulty focusing.

"Do you have information concerning the time Kyle should be arriving in Chicago?" Horatio asked.

"He is scheduled to arrive early this evening at a naval air station near the city, then he will be transported to the hospital that is all the information we were told Sir. The Lieutenant and I need to be going…we hope your son recovers quickly."

"Thank you officers," Horatio said as he shook each man's hand.

Feeling more normal, Horatio began running over things in his mind before looking at Calleigh and the rest of the team and asking, "Would all of you be alright for a while without me?"

Calleigh spoke up, "We will Horatio, go see about Kyle."

"Sure H, you need to be there with your son," Walter chimed in with all the others nodding their heads in agreement.

Horatio slowly got up from the bench and stood for a moment with Eric by his side asking, "H, you feeling better now?"

"I am Eric, thank you."

"Horatio just let me know when and I will take you to the airport," Frank offered.

"Thank you my friend. Let me start making arrangements. Um, everyone carry on with the tasks at hand here and hopefully I will be back soon with Kyle."

"Calleigh, would you come with me to my office and I will fill you in on what needs to be done?"

"Sure Horatio."

Horatio and Calleigh walked off together toward his office. Upon entering, Horatio sat down heavily in his chair behind the desk and put his head in his hands.

Calleigh was feeling a bit concerned about how he was really feeling so she softly asked, "Horatio are you ok?"

Horatio slowly raised his head and looked at her and admitted, "No…no Cal I don't think so. I would feel better if I knew the extent of Kyle's injuries, but all I can do is pray that the boy is not severely hurt where it will affect him the rest of his life."

"We all will be praying for that. Would you like for me to make your arrangements for getting to Chicago this evening?"

"That would be nice, Sweetheart." Horatio said as he raised his head to look at her and then smiled feebly.

"I'll be back in a little while Calleigh…I've got to go talk to the chief about a leave of absence."

Calleigh asked, "Do you have a hotel preference?"

"Don't make me hotel reservations, just get me a seat on a plane…I'll…I'll stay with Kyle," Horatio smiled slightly as he walked out the door.

Calleigh shook her head and thought, _Handsome, you are going to need rest before you make yourself sick and a hospital is not the ideal place for that…although you probably won't rest properly anyplace knowing you._

Horatio came back to his office and found Calleigh waiting on him. "I got you a side aisle seat on the 2:25pm non-stop flight arriving at O'Hare at 4:40. The agent let me leave the return date open when I explained the circumstances. He said just give the airline a minimum of a 48 hour notice when you have your return date set."

Horatio, taking the opportunity to thank her for her kindness, walked over to Calleigh and opened his arms as he approached. Calleigh thought, _oh my stars, HORATIO is about to hug me…I have dreamed so many times of him taking me into his arms, I just wish it was under different circumstances._

Calleigh was shocked as Horatio's arms engulfed her in a tight hug, pulling her against his lean, firm body, and she returned his hug, hoping he felt what she desired to convey. _This is so wonderful, _she told herself.

At the same time Horatio thought, _Calleigh, how I have longed to take you in my arms again, I haven't held you since Speed's tragic death a few years ago…why have I waited this long? I feel as if I could hold you like this forever…you give me so much strength._

"Thank you Sweetheart for taking time to help me," he whispered in her ear and the deep, velvety voice made her knees weak.

Realizing he was probably allowing his hug to linger a little too long, he said to himself, _damn,_ _I don't want to let go of this lovely lady!_

Breaking the hug, Horatio looked into her eyes and noticed the almost dreamlike state she appeared to be in and he wondered could she possibly feel more than friendship toward him. _Caine, don't flatter yourself, she is just being polite and feels sorry for you right now._

Horatio tilted his head and smiled tenderly at Calleigh and halfheartedly began to talk about the cases facing the team. "Cal, I hate to leave you with the load of cases we have right now…especially leaving the Johnson case in midair, but I need to be with Kyle. If it was anything other than my son…"

Calleigh reached out and touched Horatio's arm shaking her head in disbelief at his concern for them when Kyle was hurt. "Horatio I will be fine overseeing the lab for you and all the team will keep working hard to resolve the cases. Kyle needs you."

Horatio and Calleigh spent the next hour going over everything about the cases, but his thoughts centered on the Johnson case and how it should be handled. Horatio looked at his watch and it was nearing 11:00 and asked Calleigh if she would like to get a quick, early lunch with him.

They walked down the street from the lab to a diner and sat down in a booth across from each other when Natalia, Ryan and Frank walked in a short time later and observed them in the booth. At the moment, Horatio was reaching across the table holding Calleigh's hand.

Frank spoke first, "Um, guess we better not bother them…"

"Yeah, they might not appreciate us joining them," but all three noticed the looks their colleagues were giving each other, oblivious to anyone else.

After eating, Horatio mentioned he needed to get back to the lab to get his car and then get home and pack a bag before heading out to the airport.

Calleigh was finished eating and said, "I'll walk back to the lab with you Horatio."

"I'd like that Sweetheart."

Standing up and turning to leave, Horatio and Calleigh saw the team members looking at them, as they quickly looked down at their plates, attempting to hide the fact they had been watching.

"Hey," Calleigh said as she and Horatio walked over to the table. "We ate an early lunch so Horatio could prepare to leave." The team members looked at them both with curious glances.

Horatio spoke up, "Calleigh and I had some matters to discuss with me leaving abruptly. I appreciate everyone's understanding about me leaving the team shorthanded."

Frank spoke up, "When do I need to take you to the airport Horatio?"

"Um, I need to be there at 1:30 to give me time to clear security for the plane's 2:25 departure."

"I'll pick you up at your place in an hour," Frank responded.

"See you then Frank…" Horatio bid everyone else goodbye and he and Calleigh left.

Once their boss was out of the diner, Ryan spoke up and inquired, "What was that about?"

Frank glared over at the young man and said, "Well, whatever it was, it's none of our business!"

Natalia agreed, but her curiosity was aroused as well.

Before parting in different directions after reaching the lab, Horatio stopped and turned to Calleigh and said, "Call me if you need to ask anything Calleigh."

"Thanks, I will. Give Kyle my love and good wishes for a speedy recovery and thanks for lunch," Calleigh said smiling slightly as she stepped closer and gave Horatio a friendly hug.

Horatio responded by hugging her back, and they broke it off quickly since they were in full view in front of the building, but before he turned to leave he tilted his head and said, "Take care Calleigh," then walked away toward the garage to get his car.

Later, Frank let Horatio out at the airport, after his friend insisted he didn't need to stay and they said their goodbyes in the car, "Horatio, please know we all will be thinking about Kyle and hoping he will be back home in Miami soon. Let us hear from you."

"Thanks my friend and I really appreciate you bringing me to the airport. I can't say when I will be back - I asked for a leave of absence and was granted 6 weeks. In the meantime, Calleigh will be in charge at the lab….I will call when I can."

As Horatio sat on the plane while it was preparing for takeoff, he was anxious to see Kyle, to be there for him and learn the extent of his injuries…right now that was the most important thing to him, but he couldn't explain the overwhelming loneliness that was sweeping over him as he thought of leaving Calleigh.

**TBC…**


	2. Chapter 2

**A Father's Heartache**

**Chapter 2**

After one of the roughest landings he had ever experienced on an airplane, due to a severe line of thunderstorms moving through the Chicago area, Horatio was finally able to sit down in the small SUV that he had rented. He sat there for several minutes until he began to feel his stomach returning to normal, then he keyed in the address of the hospital into the vehicle's navigation system and realized it would take some time to drive there in an area this size with the late afternoon traffic already heavy he imagined. He was thankful the rain had let up…_it's going to be hard enough driving in an unfamiliar area without weather contributing to my apprehension, _Horatio thought_._

An hour later, Horatio looked to his left as he approached a huge complex of buildings and saw the electronic signage designating the grounds as the Patton Army Medical Center-Trauma Center entrance. He told himself that would be the best entrance as the admissions area was usually near the ER and he hoped the Army arranged their hospitals like civilian ones. Finally locating a parking space, seemingly a half mile from the door, Horatio convinced himself a walk would help calm his nerves from the drive and the worry he had about Kyle's condition.

After entering the building he realized it was an extremely busy place, so much more than the hospitals in Miami and _no wonder, with this horrible war going, that is certainly taking a toll on our young people_.

Locating an information desk nearby the ER, Horatio walked up and waited a few moments for the young lady to finish her phone conversation that sounded as if someone else was attempting to locate a loved one who had been admitted.

The attractive, young brunette girl smiled and asked, "Yes Sir, may I help you?"

Horatio returned her smile and began, "I am trying to locate my son, Army Corporal Kyle Harmon-Caine who is supposed to arrive this evening from a hospital in Germany."

The girl consulted a long list in her computer and then turned back to him replying, "Yes Sir, the plane bringing him has landed, but they are currently en-route to Patton by ground transportation. Corporal Caine has been assigned a private room which is 1214, located on the 12th floor."

Reaching under the desk, the girl produced a map of the hospital and its grounds; then with a yellow highlighter, traced the route to the room for him.

Horatio took the map as she handed it to him and smiled, "Thank you Ma'am. You have been a big help."

"I hope your son recovers soon Mr. Caine." Horatio smiled and thanked her again before striking out toward the room, pulling his rolling suitcase behind him and his carry-on bag hung on his shoulder.

Entering the room, Horatio was surprised how warmly appointed it was…he halfway expected a more barracks type look, given it was an army hospital. He noticed there was a nice long sofa and comfortable upholstered chair in the room as well, with a desk and chair near the sitting area and a large empty space for a hospital bed. Horatio was somewhat relieved that Kyle had already been assigned a room, which told him his injury may not be that bad after all. The boy would have already been assigned to a room in ICU if his injuries were severe. As he had approached the room, he realized it was near a nurse's station, but not too close to be loud with the noise that sometimes accompanies that location.

Horatio sat and looked at his watch, 7:30pm, Kyle should arrive soon. Realizing he had really had nothing to eat since lunch with Calleigh in Miami…_Calleigh, I hope she is at home by now and not still at the lab. I sure don't want her to live at that place like I sometimes have to do._

Stepping out to the nurse's station, Horatio asked one of the young ladies if he could give her his cell phone number to alert him when Kyle arrived in his room. He needed to go to the cafeteria to grab a quick bite of dinner. The nurse was very sympathetic to his need to eat and copied Horatio's number.

She remarked, "What area code is this?"

Horatio replied, "Miami, Florida."

"You are a long way from home Mr. Caine."

"Please call me Horatio. I am going to be around for some time with my son so, we will be seeing each other often."

"Nice to meet you Horatio, my name is Lynn."

"Good to meet you too…I feel that you love your job here by your attitude."

"I do Horatio…I appreciate the sacrifice our service men and women are making for us and if I can ease their pain and apprehension, I feel I have succeeded in my work. Have you been to Chicago before?"

"It has been many years Lynn and I was only here for a short time on business."

"Would I be too forward to ask what business you are in?"

Horatio chuckled and smiled slightly and responded, "Not at all Lynn, I am a policeman who heads a criminal investigation lab in Miami. We are part of the Miami-Dade Sheriff's Department."

"Oh my," Lynn's interest was piqued with his response, "I have always been interested in that type of work, but when I considered going that route in college I changed and finished in nursing as I thought it would be more secure in the long-run."

"You made a very wise decision Lynn; my job is very stressful and hard on your home life."

"Horatio may I suggest the veal plate since you are going down to the hospital cafeteria…it is the most popular."

Horatio tilted his head and smiled warmly at the young girl as he answered, "Thank you Lynn, I will try it."

"I will call you Horatio when Kyle arrives…but I think you will have time to eat before he is processed in here."

Horatio followed Lynn's directions on finding the cafeteria and like most hospitals, it was in the basement. The veal plate sounded good and he was feeling very hungry right now.

Settling at a table with his food, Horatio thought it would be a good time to text Calleigh like he promised he would do once settled at the hospital. He smiled as he texted her, thinking how nice it was to know someone cared if he made it safely.

Just a couple of minutes had passed since he sent the text and he was enjoying his meal, appreciating Lynn's recommendation when he heard the incoming text signal chirp on his phone.

Taking his phone out of his coat pocket, he smiled when he saw it was from Calleigh. _She must have been sitting on the phone just waiting to hear from me, _he thought. He was glad for the message though, it made the miles between them disappear.

Her message said that everything was on track at the lab and everyone was working hard on the cases. She told him she made it home before 7 and he was glad she was home safely before dark. He always felt very protective of her even though he knew she was fully capable of taking care of herself. She said she was glad I had found something to eat and couldn't believe I had not eaten until now. In his message, he had told her he would call her after he saw Kyle and the doctor to let her know his condition.

Horatio was taking his tray to the conveyor belt that took it into the back of the kitchen when his phone rang and it was Lynn.

"He's on his way Horatio," she said.

"Thank you Lynn, I'll be right there…by the way the veal was great like you claimed it would be, thanks for your suggestion."

Horatio couldn't get back to the room fast enough. When he slowly pushed the door open to the room, nurses and doctors seemed to be finished with getting Kyle settled. Horatio immediately recognized Kyle was sedated, and he was thankful for that.

One of the doctors turned and noticed him standing there watching everything they were doing and walked over. "I'm Dr. Leroy Mitchell…are you family sir?"

Horatio tore his eyes off of Kyle and looked at the doctor standing before him at the moment and answered, "I'm Kyle's father, Horatio Caine. What is his injury doctor?"

"Your son sustained a bullet wound in the left shoulder and shrapnel pieces lodged in his chest and back. The injuries are not life threatening since they were treated immediately in the field, but he is heavily sedated right now from the transport back to the states. He needs complete bed rest for a week, and then we will slowly begin physical therapy on his shoulder. We will keep him comfortable as the pain will be intense at first, but should improve with time."

Horatio sat down slowly in a chair behind him and the doctor looked at him with concern. "Mr. Caine…your son will be alright in time, are you ok?"

"Yes…yes doctor…it's just I was prepared for something a lot worse and you don't know what a relief it is to hear this news. How long will he need to stay here?"

"Right now my best estimate is somewhere around 3 weeks, and then I can release him home. Where is home?"

"Miami." Horatio answered.

The doctor replied, "I know several excellent doctors there in your area, the chief one being a Dr. Alexx Woods. She is…"

Horatio cut him off, "Alexx is at Miami-Dade now, but she used to be my medical examiner…she is excellent and a good friend of mine as well."

"Oh," the doctor now was interested in Horatio's work. "What line of business are you in Mr. Caine?"

"I am a Lieutenant with the Miami-Dade Sherriff's Department where I head an investigative crime lab."

"How interesting, I do remember now hearing that Alexx was a medical examiner at one time…small world isn't it Mr. Caine?"

"Please call me Horatio Dr. Mitchell. And it really is that."

"Only if you call me Leroy, Horatio," the doctor responded.

"How long do you think Kyle will be affected by the sedation?"

"It should begin wearing off enough that he will be responsive later tonight, but will still be comfortable. I will leave you alone with him right now and will check back later. If you need anything, ring the nurses…this is an excellent floor, noted for quality nursing care."

"Thank you Leroy."

Everyone had left the room and Horatio pulled up a chair to sit beside Kyle's bed. _He looks so young to have had this happen to him. It's hard to see him like this…its heart wrenching, when it is your child lying there hurt,_ he thought. _You want to make it all go away, but can't._

He took Kyle's hand in his and just held it as he watched the boy breathe and wished he could do something to make him all better. Horatio sat like that for a couple of hours, through a nurse shift change and Leroy stopping back by to check on Kyle.

A nurse finally asked Horatio get up and move telling him they must change Kyle's bandages and it would be better for him to wait out in the hall until they completed the task. Horatio thought it would be a good time to call Calleigh, maybe it wasn't too late. Walking out into the hall he glanced down at his watch and saw that it would be 11pm in Miami, but she said it did not matter the time…she was concerned and wanted an update on Kyle.

Horatio punched the speed dial button for Calleigh and he waited. "Ummm, Duquesne," Calleigh answered, sounding sleepy.

It made him feel bad waking her up and wished he had just waited until morning. "Calleigh, its Horatio Sweetheart…I am so sorry I woke you. Go back to sleep and I will call you in the morning."

Calleigh sat straight up in her bed when she heard Horatio's voice, "No Horatio…I'm awake. How is Kyle? How are you?"

"Oh, Cal," Horatio hesitated and Calleigh felt her heart stop and she put her hand to her mouth, then Horatio began telling her, "He is not as injured as I feared." Relief shot through her at that news and she let out a noticeable sigh.

"He has a left shoulder wound and shrapnel was taken out of his chest and back…I haven't talked with him yet because they sedated him for the trip and he is still sleeping, but the doctor told me he should wake up sometime later tonight."

"Horatio…that is wonderful news, although I am so sorry Kyle was injured at all. How are you doing?"

"I'm tired Calleigh…it is very strenuous sitting and waiting for an injured loved one to wake up."

"Well, I certainly know that feeling Horatio," then it hit her how that sounded. Horatio picked up on it and smiled at his end of the conversation, wondering if she thought of him as a loved one.

"Um," Calleigh quickly said, "remember just last year when you were shot Horatio?"

"I remember you were the first person I saw when I opened my eyes Sweetheart and I was told later that you had been by my side all night. I don't see how you did it Calleigh."

"It is hard Handsome, but you find the strength…just take care of yourself ok? Do you have a place to sleep?"

"There is a couch in Kyle's room…it is a real nice room, I never expected that in an army hospital and the best thing is, it is a single room, no one else having to share it."

"That's great Horatio…now just use the couch and try to get some sleep."

"Yes ma'am," Horatio answered as he smiled. "Speaking of sleep, I need to let you go so you can get some yourself. You have to rise and shine in the morning Sweetheart. Cal…don't stay late at the lab. I don't want to think about you being down there alone and having to drive home in the night."

"Always the protector Handsome…I won't. Call me again with an update, alright?"

"Thank you for caring Calleigh, I will. Now sweet dreams," they each said their good-nights and ended the call.

Calleigh lay back down in her bed, finding it difficult to go back to sleep thinking of Horatio.

Horatio stared at his phone for a few moments before walking back to Kyle's room and envisioned Calleigh lying in her bed and suddenly missed her terribly as the realization of the miles between them hit him hard._ What is happening here?_

Sitting back down in the chair next to Kyle, the day suddenly caught up with Horatio and he laid his head back on the cushioned chair back and drifted off to sleep. He was awakened by an irritating sound, then realized it was the IV pump alerting to the fact the bag was near empty. That's when he noticed Kyle's eyes were open.

**TBC…**


	3. Chapter 3

**A Father's Heartache**

**Chapter 3**

"Kyle," Horatio uttered as he stood up from his chair and leaned over his son, relieved to see his son awake.

Kyle turned his eyes to the right and at first couldn't believe who was standing beside him, holding his hand.

Confused for a moment Kyle asked, "Dad…you are here? Am I in Miami?"

"Kyle, you were injured in battle…you are in an army hospital in Chicago."

"Uh…I am? Everything is hazy. A buddy and I were on patrol then, everything went black."

Horatio put one hand on the side of Kyle's face admitting to him, "I don't mind telling you Son…when I heard," he had to stop as he was trying hard not to let the tears fall that were welling in his eyes, "Kyle…I…was so scared, um," Horatio swallowed hard, "I thought…I thought I had lost you." There was no stopping them, Horatio's tears silently slipped down his cheeks.

"Hey Dad…you can't get rid of me that easy," Kyle tried to smile his cocky smile, but a shot of pain hit him that almost took his breath away.

Horatio saw the pain reflected in Kyle's face and asked, "Son, do you need me to call the nurse?"

"Maybe so…damn, that hurt."

Horatio picked up the control for calling the nurse's station and told them Kyle was awake and in pain.

"Try to relax Kyle…it will help, believe me."

Through gritted teeth Kyle asked, "When you were shot…last year…did it hurt bad, Dad?"

"It hurt like hell Son…it takes time…just hang in there," but Horatio couldn't stand seeing his son in pain. In fact, it made his old wound suddenly hurt, in sympathy he supposed.

Lynn came in within seconds and checked Kyle's drip and declared, "His pain medication is getting low. I will be right back with a new bag."

Horatio sat on the edge of the bed with his hand over Kyle's and encouraged him.

"I wish…I could have been with you…when you went through this Dad. It's bad you had to suffer alone."

"Don't ever worry about me Kyle…the team helped me."

Lynn brought a new bag and got it started dripping into the IV line. "It will take a minute, but you should feel relief when enough gets in your bloodstream. Is there anything else I can do for you Kyle?"

"Thanks…just needed that." The nurse smiled and glanced over at Horatio's concerned face and exclaimed,

"He will be fine Horatio…I will come back in a short while and take his vitals."

Horatio slowly turned his attention away from Kyle and softly said, "Thanks Lynn."

After the nurse was gone, Kyle's pain seemed to be letting up and he asked, "Did Calleigh take care of you when you were shot?"

The question took Horatio off-guard and couldn't help being mystified for a moment before responding, "Why do you ask that Son?"

"Well, I just remember the last time I was home…I kinda picked up on some electricity between you two," Kyle responded smiling.

Horatio looked down as he could feel his face beginning to blush. _Are my feelings for her that obvious? Did Kyle just say he thought Calleigh reflected the same toward me? Why have I never noticed after all these years?_

"Kyle…um…I am her supervisor…we couldn't…"

"Yes you could…if you both feel the same, titles don't mean anything if you have true feelings. You need a personal life Dad, work shouldn't dominate all of your time…think about it. Life is short…you need to enjoy it more." Kyle had always been concerned about his dad building a wall around himself, not letting himself feel love again after the loss of his wife.

Horatio tilted his head and smiled slightly at his son, _how did this young man get so wise suddenly?_

"You need to get some rest Kyle…I'll be right here with you."

The pain medicine was taking more of an effect on easing Kyle's pain and Horatio continued to sit beside him on the bed until he could tell his son had drifted off into sleep again. Only then did Horatio move back to the chair beside the bed.

Horatio glanced at his watch and noticed it was approaching 3am. _Nothing like a cup of coffee in the middle of the night I suppose. Can't sleep anyway, might as well go find some._

The nurse's station had a fresh pot and Horatio asked one of the nurses if they would share a cup.

"Sure will! How do you drink yours…cream or sugar?"

"Black is fine, thanks." _Calleigh drinks hers with cream and sugar. I know exactly how much of each she uses…why is it I know little details like that about her and yet have never picked up on any 'sparks' she seems to be sending out to me…according to Kyle's observations anyway._

"Wish I could drink coffee in the middle of the night and still be able to sleep," Lynn declared as she walked up from seeing about another patient's needs.

Horatio smiled and said, "Occupational hazard….never bothers me."

Lynn looked at Horatio's tired face and asked, "Having trouble sleeping?"

"I guess, but in my line of work you get used to little sleep." Horatio answered.

"I wish I could give you something to help you get off to sleep, but we can't dispense medicine without a doctor's permission and none are here at the moment."

"That's ok…don't ever use that stuff."

"I will go check Kyle's vitals now…then maybe you can get some sleep until the shift changes at 6:30 this morning. That is when a new set of nurses will come on for the day shift."

"Thanks Lynn…I'll just walk down the hall a bit and stretch my legs."

Horatio walked past the nurse's station on his way back to Kyle's room and noticed Lynn was back after checking Kyle.

"Everything check ok with Kyle?"

Horatio then detected a little concern in her facial expression as she answered him, "His temp was elevated slightly, but that is not uncommon with a gunshot wound, but I will feel better contacting Dr. Mitchell about it. I'll let you know what he says."

That news jarred Horatio out of any thought of sleeping. He tossed his empty cup into the garbage can beside the desk and walked back into the room. He looked at Kyle lying in the bed as he stood beside him and noticed his flushed face, plus he was more restless now.

Horatio was in the chair beside the bed when Leroy arrived at 6:30 to check on Kyle. The nurses monitored his temperature throughout the night and it had steadily increased, despite the counter measures that Leroy had ordered.

"Leroy…Kyle has been very restless during the night and has been delusional…his temperature has risen…is there anything more that you can do for him?"

The doctor looked up from Kyle's chart and studied the young man's face before turning to Horatio, "There is and I need to act now. I have ordered blood work drawn because his wound is not infected. The antibiotic I've had him on was strictly to prevent his wound from becoming infected and I suspect the culprit at the moment is a parasite that is common in men returning from Afghanistan. Kyle will be moved to ICU shortly where he can be monitored closer and the nurses there can begin more aggressive treatment to hopefully bring his temperature down to a more moderate level. I don't want to completely get rid of the fever because it is the body's natural defense against infection, but 103.5 is too high. We will keep this room for him so you can still have your things here while he is in ICU."

Horatio's concern skyrocketed at the mention of Kyle being moved to ICU, but he prayed they would be able to help him.

"Leroy…is Kyle…um…" Horatio couldn't say the words.

The doctor reading Horatio's concerned expression quickly assured him, "No one has died from this bug…but it makes them extremely ill for a few days."

Horatio felt a slight relief, but the knowledge it was bad made him want to cling to Kyle and protect him, even though he knew the doctor and nurses would do their best and they were experienced with this illness.

"Horatio…why don't you try to rest…Kyle doesn't need for you to get sick and I might add, you will only make yourself vulnerable to infection as well since you have had contact with Kyle before we knew he had this. It will be tomorrow before I can let you in ICU to see him anyway."

Horatio's heart sank with that news and stayed by Kyle's side until the orderlies came and took him.

Leroy was right he thought, _I need to stay healthy for Kyle. _Feeling like he hadn't cleaned up in days, Horatio got a shower and shaved in the room's bathroom then put on fresh clothes and made his way to the cafeteria to eat some breakfast.

As he sat and sipped on his last cup of coffee, which he thought was not half-bad, his cell phone notified him about a new text message received. Taking the phone out of his shirt pocket, he saw the message was from Calleigh.

_How is Kyle this morning? Are you taking care of yourself? All well here…learned baby Johnson's name – Maria. Still can't locate father. Tom says COD, asphyxiation. Other cases coming together…our load has lightened up. Let me hear from you._

He thought Maria, was such a beautiful name…such a shame the innocent have to die at the hands of a parent. _I certainly know the feeling. The father needs to be found…make him pay. Makes me feel better the team's load has eased. I wonder if I should tell her about Kyle. She is concerned…guess I should._

Horatio typed his message…hit the send button and then began walking out of the cafeteria back to the room for some rest, hopefully.

As soon as he stretched out on the sofa, he realized just how exhausted he was…_guess adrenaline kept me going._ In less than 2 minutes he was completely out, not hearing the signal that Calleigh answered his return message. Unknown to him, the nurses put a sign on the door saying 'No Visitors' after they saw Horatio was asleep on the couch. The night shift had told the day crew about Kyle, as well as his father having a difficult time with his son's injury and now illness.

**TBC…**


	4. Chapter 4

**A Father's Heartache**

**Chapter 4**

Calleigh was glad that Horatio had told her in his message that he was going back to Kyle's room and try to get some rest. She knew he had not slept much since yesterday morning with everything about Kyle going on so, at least he was taking the opportunity to try and get some sleep. She hoped her return message had reached Horatio before he was asleep since she told him 'sweet dreams'.

Serving as his second in command, she knew the paperwork was the most taxing requirement concerning Horatio's job…it never seemed to end! Thank goodness the call-outs had eased up a bit, now if criminals would just behave themselves a couple of days longer, she thought, _I might just get caught up._ Usually things slowed down in the middle of the week and hopefully this week would follow the normal pattern since they were one short on the team. They fully supported Horatio being with Kyle right now, but each team member felt the void he left when he was not here…it was almost as if they all felt somewhat insecure in his absence; they greatly missed his astute insight in helping to solve cases and his uncanny ability to read people, especially potential suspects.

Calleigh realized most of all her heart missed his shy, boyish smile, his beautiful blue eyes and his deep, velvety voice. Just knowing he was close around gave her comfort. Now, he was over 1,300 miles away…although to her, it seemed more like he was halfway around the world.

Grabbing a sandwich for lunch, Calleigh ate at Horatio's desk while she worked until Eric came to the door and knocked before coming in with the news, "Calleigh…we have a call-out down to Coral Gables. Frank called it in…young woman found stabbed to death behind a strip-mall."_ Oh well, _Calleigh thought, _so much for criminals cooperating._

Eric and Calleigh rode together to the scene, arriving before Tom or the other team members and met Frank standing near the girl's body. Calleigh walked off from them momentarily as she carefully surveyed the crime scene around the area near some trash bins; hoping to find evidence that the killer discarded, especially the knife since they had not recovered one. In a flash, Calleigh felt herself stumbling backwards after being struck in the face by a hand that belonged to a young man who had been hiding behind a bin. As she hit the pavement, Eric and Frank saw what was happening and both rushed over to help Calleigh, screaming "MDPD…STOP NOW." Frank stayed with Calleigh while Eric sprinted after the man, finally catching up with him, and tackling him to the ground as they reached a street crossing the alleyway.

Eric roughly pulled the man to his feet and immediately put hand-cuffs on him, leading him back to the scene. By this time, the other team members had arrived and he saw Tom attending to Calleigh.

After handing the man over to the patrol officers, Eric walked over to Calleigh and asked, "You ok, Cal?"

"Yeah…my pride is damaged the most," she smiled sheepishly, but winced at her attempted smile. "That was a stupid move on my part, not being prepared for someone hiding behind those huge bins…I should have known better."

Eric smiled and responded, "Maybe you've been doing too much paperwork…lost your touch for the field." Calleigh glared at him.

Tom suggested after cleaning her face, "I would go find me a good rib-eye to put on that bruise…it is going to get worse as the afternoon goes. How is your um, back feeling?"

"You mean my butt Tom? It's sore as hell and I'm sure that it will get worse too as the day goes." Calleigh tried to lighten the mood and asked, "Should I put the rib-eye there also?" and grinned at the men around.

Eric and Ryan broke out in laughter and Tom looked very uncomfortable as did Frank. Calleigh chuckled at the responses then said, "Let's get back to business guys so that we can all go home in a timely manner tonight," suggesting as she began walking back over to the girl's body.

In Chicago –

Horatio woke and at first was somewhat disoriented for a minute as to where he was until his memory brought it all back. He lay there listening to the activity outside the door and wondered what time it was. He reached over to get his watch that he had placed on the table before lying down and was shocked that it was almost 2 in the afternoon.

Daytime sleep always made him feel like a 'junk-yard dog' when he woke up. _I need to get up, wash my face and check on Kyle, then see if I can scratch up some late lunch from somewhere_, he thought.

Having freshened up, Horatio stepped out into the hall and walked to the nurse's station to see if they had any updates on Kyle and could perhaps direct him to some lunch. One of the nurses was sitting behind the counter with her paperwork and Horatio hated to interrupt as he knew how difficult it was to get back to the mundane task once your attention was diverted.

"Excuse me, I'm Horatio Caine, Kyle's father, I uh, was wondering if you could tell me how he is doing in ICU?"

The young girl looked up and smiled, "Good morning or afternoon Mr. Caine. I hope you slept well."

Horatio returned her smile and said, "I did, and I believe I got caught up a bit, thanks for putting up the sign on the door, I appreciate it."

"The ICU staff sent down word for you that Kyle is responding to treatment and you should be able to see him during the morning visitation hours tomorrow."

The relief was obvious on Horatio's face and he said softly, "Thank God he is better. That is wonderful news, um…"

"I'm Bonnie Mr. Caine."

"I'm Horatio, Bonnie. Is there anyplace around where I might find a late lunch?"

"Believe we have you fixed up Horatio. We put the lunch ordered for Kyle in our refrigerator for you. It will just take a moment to heat it in the convection oven. If you like, I'll bring it to the room when it' ready and by the way, this hospital is known for its good room food service."

"That sounds great Bonnie. Thank you so much." Horatio replied then headed back to the room. _This seems like a great place for Kyle and the other military personnel…glad my tax dollars are being used well here._

After finishing his lunch, Horatio decided to call Calleigh instead of texting to see how things were going with her and the lab and tell her the good news about Kyle. He was just about to punch her number in his speed dial when he heard shouting coming from the hallway. Walking to the door of the room, Horatio slowly opened it and noticed a large man, with his back to the door, who appeared to be a patient holding Bonnie in a headlock. Taking action, Horatio hooked his arm around the young man's throat, forcing the man to let go of Bonnie momentarily, which allowed her to get out the man's grasp. The young man responded with an elbow to Horatio's stomach, causing Horatio to loosen his grip and then the young man spun around and slammed Horatio against the wall punching wildly at his face and landing a couple of blows before two security officers ran up and subdued the man. Horatio slid down the wall to the floor, trying to shake off the buzzing in his ears, and three nurses ran to him and helped him lie down on the floor and began comforting him.

"Horatio…can you hear me?" Bonnie was sharply calling to him.

"Um…yeah…," Horatio responded, trying to sit up. "I think you better stay here until a doctor can look at you. I have called for Dr. Mitchell to come up," Bonnie suggested.

"I'm ok…I don't need a doctor," Horatio replied.

"Sorry Horatio, hospital policy. I have to ask you to stay where you are until an initial examination can be done."

Dr. Mitchell arrived and examined Horatio, then helped him over to the nurse's station where he could sit on an exam table in the back enabling him to see the injuries better.

"Leroy…I'm ok…just a little shaken."

"You let me be the judge of that, ok?"

"What was that all about…do you know?" Horatio asked the doctor.

"From what I understand, the young man was having a flashback and thought he was fighting off the enemy…episodes like that give men extraordinary strength unfortunately, you found out the hard way. Thanks by the way for stepping in and saving one of my nurses."

Horatio smiled, grimacing slightly and replied, "All in a days work for me."

"Well, Horatio I don't think your cheek bone is fractured, but just don't let anyone hit you there again for a few days." Leroy smiled slightly.

Horatio responded, "That…I will avoid, believe me. Wouldn't have a steak around anywhere, would you doc?"

Leroy laughed and told him they had an ointment that would do the trick. Bonnie came in and doctored Horatio's face for him and thanked him profusely for helping her.

Horatio went back to the room and sat down heavily on the couch and thought, _this is all I needed right now…I can't be nursing my pains while trying to help Kyle. More rest ought to help. Maybe it won't look too bad when I visit Kyle tomorrow. _Horatio then chuckled to himself, _who am I trying to kid…it will look worse!_

_Well, I can take my mind off of everything by calling and talking with Calleigh that should make me feel better. I am certainly not going to tell her about this…she will begin to think trouble follows me around everywhere._ Glancing at his watch he saw it would be going on 5 there and she should be starting the process to wrap up her day by this time.

Punching her number in his speed dial, it rang a few times and he was afraid his call was going to voicemail before she answered, "Hey Horatio…how is Kyle?"

"Hi Sweetheart…got some good news a bit ago, Kyle is responding to the treatment. I will be able to see him in the morning."

"That is wonderful Handsome…I am so relieved to hear that news. Did you get some sleep earlier?"

"I did Cal…you sound tired, are you beginning to wrap everything up for the day?"

"Well…"

"Calleigh…please don't stay late…what's been going on?"

"We got a call-out after lunch to a stabbing…a young girl's body was found down in Coral Gables and we are still running tests on the evidence. Everyone is still at it so we might get out of here by 7 tonight."

Horatio was feeling guilty for not being there to help, and Calleigh sensed that from his silence, "Horatio don't you even think of feeling bad about not being here…Kyle needs you. We are fine here, really."

"I couldn't be anywhere else, I trust you Calleigh you are one of the best, Sweetheart." Calleigh thought, _well if you knew how stupid I was this afternoon you might not say that._

They chatted for a few more minutes before Horatio said, "Cal, I need to let you go so you won't be late getting home. Will you do me a favor and call me when you get home and locked inside your condo?"

"Horatio…I'll be fine, but I would love to talk to you again tonight." _Oh my stars…did I just say that?_

Horatio smiled at his end and thought, _Sweetheart if you only knew how much I want to talk to you again._ "I would love to tell you good-night Sweetheart. Now, get busy and get out of there at a reasonable hour."

Calleigh smiled and said playfully, "Yes boss!" Horatio chuckled and could have sworn he detected her beautiful smile across the miles.

"Talk to you then Calleigh."

"Sure will Handsome."

Calleigh sat on the stool in the lab and smiled as she thought of Horatio and how sweet he was to care whether she got home safe or not with everything going on with Kyle.

Eric walked in and observed Calleigh's dreamlike expression and began teasing, "Uh-oh, who is the guy that you have your sights on now?"

Calleigh snapped back and said in a somewhat agitated tone, "What makes you ask that?"

Eric laughed and replied, "Because I've seen that look before…in fact, I can remember when you used to look at me that way."

Calleigh frowned and said, "Well, I for one want to get out of here, so let's get busy on this evidence." Eric shrugged, but really did wonder who the guy was that had Calleigh's attention.

Horatio and Calleigh talked again later after she was home. He had begun to get concerned when she did not call until around 8pm, Miami time, but she explained she had to stop and get some dinner to take home.

The next morning, Horatio was anxiously standing in the small waiting room before being allowed to enter the ICU for the first visitation time of the day. When the nurse called those waiting to come in, Horatio was led to Kyle's room and when he saw Kyle, he didn't look as bad as he had envisioned.

Kyle took one look at Horatio and exclaimed, "Dad…what happened to you?" The bruising had really developed on Horatio's cheek and chin.

"I'm ok Kyle…how are you feeling son?" Horatio asked with a worried look on his face as he sat down in a chair next to Kyle's bed.

"A lot better this morning…still don't feel real good yet. The doc said I'd be feeling more back to myself tomorrow."

"Are you going to tell me what happened?" Kyle asked curiously.

Horatio sighed and looked away momentarily before answering, "A young man who is a patient, ah, thought he was back in the war, he grabbed a nurse outside of your room. I stepped out and broke it up, then he turned away from her and concentrated on me, he thought she and I were the enemy."

"Gosh Dad…I'm sorry, is the nurse ok?"

"She's fine Son…let's talk about something more pleasant, ok?" Horatio requested.

The nurses allowed Horatio to stay with Kyle a little longer than normal until they detected their patient was tiring.

Before he left, Horatio said he would return for the evening visitation as he leaned down and hugged his son.

Meanwhile in Miami –

Calleigh took a phone call from a detective in Chicago. At first she was slightly alarmed, knowing Horatio was there, until he began explaining that he wanted to talk to her about Robert Johnson.

**TBC… Thanks for the reviews…glad everyone is enjoying this story, it is fun writing it!**


	5. Chapter 5

**A Father's Heartache**

**Chapter 5**

"Sargent O'Brien, I am CSI Calleigh Duquesne filling in for Lieutenant Horatio Caine, as his second in command, how may I help you concerning Robert Johnson?"

"Ms. Duquesne, I saw the information your department put out on NCIC concerning the whereabouts of one, Robert Johnson and I believe he is the same man we have been searching for close to three years now."

"What are the charges against Johnson there in Chicago?"

"He is a strong suspect in the disappearance and subsequent murder of his wife."

Calleigh now wondered if the reason they had not had success in finding Johnson was due to the possibility he had travelled back to the Chicago area…possible connections there.

O'Brien and Calleigh talked for some time before concluding someone from Miami needed to go to Chicago and follow the leads CPD had, perhaps the trip would give them their man. After ending the conversation, Calleigh sat and thought about how she could be the one to make the trip, but yet still enable the lab to keep functioning at the level required. She reached for the phone and called Cynthia in the Chief's office.

Same morning in Chicago –

Kyle was glad to be back in the private room again and feeling so much better. "Hey Dad, I never appreciated quiet as much as I do now!"

Horatio chuckled and replied, "I know how you feel son I've been in ICU myself, a place where there is no such thing as quiet."

The door to the room opened and Bonnie walked in with a breakfast tray for Kyle. "Here you go Sir…eggs, French toast, bacon, hash browns, OJ and coffee."

Kyle was ready, "Just in time…I'm STARVED!" Horatio was so glad Kyle seemed so much improved…it was such a relief.

"Son, let me help you open everything," Horatio smiled as he began opening the bag of plastic utensils.

In a moment, Bonnie reappeared with another tray, "Horatio…we have a breakfast for you to, same as Kyle's…didn't want you to have to leave just as Kyle got back." Bonnie smiled at father and son as she placed Horatio's tray on a spare rolling table in the room and pushed it to the chair by the bed.

"Thank you, that is so nice." Horatio smiled in return at the young nurse.

Horatio and Kyle enjoyed their breakfast together, relishing the opportunity of making up time lost during Kyle's illness.

After they were through eating and enjoying their coffee, Kyle asked, "Tomorrow is Friday, right?"

"I believe it is son, why?"

"I uh, I am expecting a friend Friday afternoon."

"Oh, what's his name?"

"Sam and he is a 'she'…Samantha Hamilton."

"I um see…where did the two of you meet?"

"She was serving in Afghanistan in the medic corp. Her tour and enlistment was to be up the day after I got wounded so, I guess she is now officially a civilian again."

"Son, isn't your enlistment getting close to being up as well?

"Yeah, in a couple of weeks. Guess my hospital tour will be the end. Dad, I've had a lot of time to think about it and I've made up my mind not to re-enlist."

Horatio felt his heart soar with this news and suddenly the heavy weight was lifted off of him that he had carried around since Kyle's sudden volunteering for Afghanistan. "I'm happy with your decision son. I am proud of you for serving your country, but you can contribute in other ways too."

"I know Dad…I want to go to college and major in youth counseling…I feel like I can help young people who find themselves in situations like I was in, a screwed up kid. For a while, I really thought about becoming a policeman like you, but I think I will be able to contribute more as a counselor."

Horatio stood and walked over to Kyle and sat down on the bed, reaching out and cupping his son's face he said, "Kyle, I couldn't be happier for you. I think you will make a great youth counselor."

"It won't cost you anything Dad, for me to go to college. I can go on the G.I Bill."

"Son, I'll help you too, I would love to."

Kyle smiled at his dad and said, "Thanks."

While Kyle slept that afternoon, Horatio stretched out on the couch after texting Calleigh the news of Kyle's plans. He felt so relaxed…seemingly for the first time in a long while. Horatio soon drifted off to sleep.

He was slowly waking up and heard Kyle happily talking to someone and telling them he loved them too as he sat up and looked over at the bed, he saw Kyle had a cell phone and was smiling at him as he was ending the conversation.

"Sam I suppose?" Horatio asked grinning at his son as he stood and walked over and sat down in the chair next to the bed.

"Yeah, she'll be here tomorrow afternoon around 3. She is a civilian now and she wants to go back to college and finish her degree in nursing."

"What a great field to go into. Are you serious about her Kyle?"

Kyle looked over at his dad and answered, "I love her Dad."

"Hmmm, sounds pretty serious. Do you know if she feels the same?"

"She says she loves me."

"Kyle, how long have you known her?"

"Dad, look I know what you're getting at here. We have known each other almost a year and have been in stressful situations together over there. We know each other pretty well."

"Hey, son…I'm happy you found someone ok? I'm not coming down on you, after all, you are a grown man now and I am sure capable of making serious decisions. I only want you to be happy."

"I am Dad…I am." Horatio smiled at Kyle and thought, _now I see why you want me to realize I have feelings for Calleigh. You want me to find what you have found in Sam._

_Speaking of Calleigh, I haven't heard from her since last night._ Horatio pulled his phone out of his shirt pocket and looked at the screen, _no answer to my text earlier this morning. I'd better call and check on her, something is going on._

"Excuse me Kyle…I need to make a phone call to the lab real quick," Horatio said anxiously as he walked toward the door.

Kyle smiled as he watched his father walk out…_he hasn't a clue that I talked to Calleigh while he was sleeping. _

Horatio couldn't reach Calleigh so he called Paula at the front desk. "Afternoon Paula, um is Calleigh out? She is. Um ok…uh sure tell her I called and ask her return my call when she gets back. Is anyone with her? Frank, that's good. Thank you Paula, Kyle is recovering real well now and I hope I will have him home in a couple of weeks…yes, I'll tell him you asked. Goodbye."

_The team must be busy today since Calleigh hasn't called or texted…I'm glad she has Frank with her on the call-out, I realize I've worried more about her since she has been heading the lab in my absence for I know all too well how that position can make you a target for criminals._

Later that evening Kyle looked uneasy about something and Horatio picked up on his son's demeanor fairly quickly. "Kyle, is something troubling you?"

"Well Dad…I don't know how to ask you this," Kyle looked down for a few seconds before looking up at Horatio's questioning expression, "but do you think you could find a hotel room after tonight?"

Horatio looked at his son and tilted his head as he smiled slightly, "Getting tired of your old man, are we?"

"No Dad…that's not it. It's just that…um, you know Sam's coming tomorrow and…"

Horatio chuckled, "I understand Son…I would be in the way, wouldn't I?"

Kyle smiled at his dad and answered, "A little."

Horatio sighed then raised his eyebrows before telling him, "Consider it done. Maybe a bed at night would be better for my back."

Just then, Horatio's phone chimed. Looking at the screen he saw it was Calleigh calling and answered, "Hi Calleigh, all tucked in for the night?" Horatio motioned to Kyle that he was going out into the hall.

Horatio walked down the hall to a sitting area where it would be quieter. "Glad you are in at a reasonable hour Sweetheart…you've had a busy day."

"Yeah we did Handsome, but it was a rewarding one. We were able to tie up a few cases and have the evidence ready for court. I told you about a couple of new ones when I called earlier, the evidence testing on those is coming along nicely and I don't anticipate any problems."

"Glad to hear that Cal. My son must be feeling better…he is kicking me out tomorrow," he told her as he laughed. "Seems he is interested in a girl he met in the army and she is coming tomorrow afternoon."

"Have you met her before? I can't recall you mentioning Kyle having a love interest."

"No I haven't…I'll meet her for the first time tomorrow. She is getting out of the army like Kyle and is going back to college to finish a degree in nursing."

"That sounds great Horatio, sounds like they both have a future planned. I'm happy for Kyle."

"I am too Sweetheart."

Horatio and Calleigh continued talking for a while before Horatio detected the tiredness in her voice and wished her sweet dreams and that they would talk tomorrow.

As Horatio walked into Kyle's room, he had the TV on and was interested in some CSI police show.

"Hey Dad…you ought to check this show out. You might pick up some pointers."

"Kyle, that's a TV show…not very accurate. Think I'll get ready to hit the hay. Can I do anything for you right now Son?"

"Thanks Dad, I'm fine."

Horatio was thankful the sofa was in an offset of the room where the light from the TV wouldn't bother him. As he lay there waiting for sleep, he thought about Calleigh as he usually did, wishing she could be there with him.

Friday morning came and the nurses were busy tending to and redressing Kyle's wounds as well as giving him a bath so, Horatio walked down to the cafeteria to eat breakfast. He was enjoying watching the people walking in and out as he sipped his second cup of coffee when his phone chimed with a text message.

The message was from Calleigh saying she was thinking about him and hoped he had a good night's sleep. She said maybe getting a room would be better for him he would be more comfortable and could better. Calleigh told him she would be out of pocket for a while, but would talk to him later. Horatio smiled as he read her message and replied with one of his own.

After he and Kyle were finished with lunch, Horatio asked, "Kyle, would you mind if I stayed to meet Sam?"

"That would be great. I want you two to meet each other."

"I promise after I stay a little bit after she arrives, I will leave you two alone and go search for a room."

"Thanks Dad…I hope you find a good one."

"If you don't mind, I really feel sleepy for some reason…I think I'll stretch out on the couch for a nap."

Kyle smiled at his dad and thought, _good idea dad you'll be rested for your surprise._

About an hour later, the door to Kyle's room opened and Calleigh walked in. She began to greet Kyle and noticed he suddenly motioned for her to be quiet. She then looked over to where he was pointing and saw Horatio asleep on the couch. She smiled at the sight then walked over and hugged Kyle and whispered, "How are you feeling?"

"I am feeling so much better Calleigh. I think dad will be too in just a minute."

"Has he suspected anything?"

"No, I don't think so. He has really missed you Calleigh."

She smiled and whispered, "I've missed him so much."

Calleigh began walking over to the sofa and sat down on the edge, then noticed the bruises on his face and covered her mouth to stifle her sharp intake of breath. _Oh Handsome, what happened to you?_ She then reached out and gently began rubbing his arm and called his name.

"Horatio…wake up sleepy head." Kyle was watching and was grinning from ear to ear.

Horatio stirred and mumbled, "Calleigh…Sweetheart…I've got a lot of…paperwork…to do now we have…a call-out."

Calleigh smiled as he was dreaming and she was in his dream. Once again she called, "Horatio, open your eyes Handsome."

Horatio heard her voice and for a moment thought he was dreaming, then he halfway opened his eyes and saw Calleigh sitting beside him. Bolting up to a sitting position, he felt his bruised stomach muscles protest and he grunted.

Reflecting the shock on his face he stammered, "Cal…what…how?"

Calleigh leaned in and kissed him on the cheek and gave him a quick hug and smiled, "Hi Handsome!"

Horatio gathered her in his arms and hugged her tight as he glanced over at Kyle and saw his son beaming at the sight.

TBC…


	6. Chapter 6

**A Father's Heartache**

**Chapter 6 **

"Are you alright with me just showing up unannounced Handsome?"

As Horatio sat beside her with his arm around her shoulders, breaking into his shy, boyish grin that pulled at her heartstrings at her question replied, "Am I alright with it…more than you know Sweetheart. I couldn't have had a better surprise."

He couldn't seem to pull his eyes away from Calleigh, drinking in her beauty as if he had been out on a vast desert for days without water. Kyle noticed the change in his father and it warmed him deep inside as he knew that his dad needed Calleigh and hopefully he would realize it soon before he blew any chance of a relationship with her.

About that time Bonnie entered the room to check Kyle's vital signs and noticed the beautiful blonde lady sitting with Horatio and the contented look on his face, realizing she was someone special to him.

"Calleigh, I'd like to introduce you to one of Kyle's excellent nurses. Bonnie, I'd like you to meet a good friend of mine from Miami, Calleigh Duquesne."

Bonnie answered, "Nice to meet you Ms. Duquesne. We have all enjoyed getting to know Horatio and Kyle during their stay with us and I might add, Horatio is a very brave man."

Calleigh felt Horatio shift uncomfortably beside her as she asked, "He has shown that to me for many years Bonnie. Would you know something about how he got the bruises?"

"I definitely do," as she finished with Kyle's vitals and patted him on his arm. "Horatio rescued me one afternoon when a patient thought he was still in the war and was holding me in a headlock out in the hall, thinking I was the enemy. Horatio came out of the room and put himself at the young man's mercy to draw the man's attention away from me so I could break free of his hold. Unfortunately for Horatio, the young man turned on him. It scared us all to death to watch the beating he took for me."

Calleigh turned and looked into Horatio's eyes and smiled then said, "He is always the gentleman Bonnie when it comes to women." She watched as Horatio's face began to blush.

"Bonnie, how is the young man doing?" Horatio inquired.

"He is much better…his doctor started him on a better medicine and it has made a vast difference."

"I'm glad."

Bonnie wished them a good day with a promise she would check back with Kyle later.

"Calleigh, from what I hear, Dad has been labeled the hero of the 12th floor!"

Horatio nervously cleared his throat and responded, "Son…I think that is a little over-exaggerated statement, don't you think?"

"Not from what I've heard Dad," Kyle responded and grinned.

Calleigh loved watching Horatio squirm. It wasn't very often a person was privileged enough to see it. He was always so strong and in complete command of his composure.

Horatio noticed the light bruising on her cheek and brought his fingers to the spot and tenderly touched it. "Are you going to tell me what happened to cause this Calleigh?"

Now it was Calleigh's turn to squirm. "I can assure you that my situation was not so heroic, more of a stupid one on my part." Horatio and Kyle were both wondering how a woman so strong and sure of herself, could have ever done anything stupid.

Horatio was now looking very concerned at her as she began to tell her story. After she was through explaining, she could feel Horatio had tensed and began clenching his jaw causing her to suddenly wonder if he was angry with her for making such a careless mistake.

"Is the man still being held Calleigh?"

"I think he made bail, we never could tie him to the murder. The best we could determine, he was just loafing behind the stores more than likely to see what he could find in the way of goods to sell for drugs. He does have a fairly long list of charges in his past for petty thefts."

Horatio shook his head in disgust that a man would hit a lady and said, "I'm sorry it happened to you Calleigh and I don't think that was stupid on your part. You were just doing your job trying to find evidence in a murder. The man was charged with assault on a police officer, I hope?"

"He was Horatio."

Horatio looked deep into her eyes and asked, "How long are you going to be able to stay Calleigh?"

"I have the weekend off, but Monday morning I, and I hope you along with me, need to meet a sergeant at CPD concerning the Johnson case in Miami. I received a phone call this week from him with some leads that could help our case in Miami."

"Who will run the lab while you are here?" Horatio asked.

"The chief asked Captain Morales to oversee operations until I get back. Eric assured me they would help him."

"Morales is a good man and he has the CSI background. I'm sure he will be fine."

"Let's talk about something more pleasant, like when is Samantha due to arrive?" Calleigh asked as she directed her attention to Kyle.

"Should be soon Calleigh; she told me it would be around 3 before she could get here."

As if on cue, the door to the room began to open and they all heard a soft voice say, "Knock, knock."

A beautiful young petite girl, with long brown hair and hazel eyes stepped into the room and Horatio saw Kyle's face light up immediately.

"Sam…" Kyle was grinning from ear to ear as he held out an outstretched arm toward her.

Horatio stood to greet her and judging by his stiffness in getting off of the couch, Calleigh realized he had more injury than just his face.

Introductions were made all around and Horatio and Calleigh both noticed the sparks between the two young people and smiled.

After a few minutes of enjoyable conversation, Horatio found Sam to be a nice young lady and was happy his son had met her. Sam had told them of her intentions of enrolling in the nursing program at the University of Miami, where Kyle was planning on attending and Horatio knew they would be seeing a great deal more of this young lady which was fine with him.

Then Horatio noticed the look his son conveyed to him, signaling it was time for he, and Calleigh to take their leave.

"Um folks, I guess we better go. I need to find myself a hotel room. Kyle, I will call you tomorrow ok?" Horatio said after hugging his son.

"Yeah Dad, that will be great. Have a good evening," he smiled as he quickly turned his attention back to Sam. Horatio just chuckled at the fact that he had seemingly been replaced, but he fully understood.

Calleigh wished them a good night and walked out with Horatio.

As they walked to the elevators, Calleigh said, "Sam is good for Kyle."

Horatio looked over at her and smiled, "I think so too."

Reaching the parking lot, Calleigh suggested they go in the vehicle provided for her use by MDPD and Horatio could leave his at the hospital. After Horatio loaded his bags, Calleigh told him she had put him on the rental agreement as a driver so he could drive the SUV too. "Cal, since you have been to Chicago before, any suggestions on a hotel?"

"I have reservations at The Mark on Michigan Avenue."

"Is it an expensive place? I don't really need luxury."

"All I can say is the department is paying for it so I hope it's not seedy, but really it shouldn't be with a location on Michigan Avenue," Calleigh paused, seemingly deep in thought, "although it has been years since I was here last visiting my aunt and uncle. Growing up, we used to come here every summer for a couple of weeks for our annual summertime visit. After we get settled, I do remember a great Italian restaurant off of Michigan…I would probably recognize the name in a phone book, if you are interested." As she looked out of the passenger window while Horatio drove into downtown, Calleigh commented, "So much has been developed since I was here last."

Horatio reached across the console and lightly placed his hand on top of hers and smiled.

Arriving at The Mark, Horatio approached the front desk and inquired as to whether they had an available room.

The clerk checked the computer for a minute, then looked up and said, "Sorry Sir, we are booked for a week. There is an AARP national convention being held in Chicago all week and I would imagine every hotel, except for those 25 miles or more out are booked."

Calleigh grinned when Horatio turned around and looked crest fallen at her. "Handsome, you can stay in the room I have."

"Um, Calleigh…do you think that would be wise, especially given the department is paying for it." Giving him a pleading expression as she was silently begging, _please Handsome…forget formality for once._

All the while Horatio was thinking, _well Caine, this is definitely going to be a serious test of your self-control._

Horatio realized he didn't have any other option so the clerk gave Horatio his key card and welcomed him saying he hoped he enjoyed his stay. _I hope this is the right decision. Calleigh seems very pleased with it at least._

Entering the room on the 10th floor, Horatio thought the hotel was anything but seedy. In fact, he was surprised the department would pay for such a place. Then he saw the king sized bed and a sitting area over near the glass doors leading out on a balcony.

Nervously he put his bags near the closet and walked over, opening the sliding glass door and stepped out on the balcony. Over the roofs of nearby low buildings he could see Lake Michigan dotted with a few sailboats enjoying the breezy mid-September wind. After a few moments he sensed Calleigh had followed him out on the balcony stopping at the railing by his side.

"Cal…um, I'll sleep on the couch."

Calleigh pushed her windblown hair from her face as she looked at Horatio with an incredulous expression and replied, "You most certainly will not Handsome. I promise I will behave, we will both have room in the bed." Horatio thought, _oh but Sweetheart, I'm not sure I can behave with you that close to me._

"Ok," Horatio said weakly, then adding, "Calleigh, you can have the bathroom first. Let's get freshened up, find that Italian restaurant and I'll take you out to dinner tonight."

"Sounds wonderful Handsome," Calleigh smiled radiantly while she watched his features soften as he smiled in return.

The restaurant Calleigh remembered had closed some time ago, but the concierge at the hotel highly recommended another and it was close enough to enjoy a leisurely stroll to their dinner.

Calleigh commented as they finished their meal, "That was a wonderful Handsome, thank you for the food and your company."

"The man at the hotel certainly knows good Italian food, and I…" Horatio nervously looked down for a moment then slowly raised his head and looked tenderly into her eyes and finished, "I couldn't have enjoyed it as much without you Calleigh."

"Aww, Handsome you are so sweet." Horatio reached out and took her hand in his unable to stop thinking, _this feels so wonderful, but am I doing the right thing by her. If word of us being together somehow gets back to the department, it could potentially jeopardize her career, especially if it were known we shared a hotel room. As much as I want her, I have to be cautious for her sake._

Walking back to the hotel hand in hand, they paused at storefronts window shopping along the way. Calleigh sensed Horatio was attempting to delay their getting back to the hotel and she wondered if perhaps she had read something into his actions that was totally different from his true intentions toward her. _Girl, you are wishing for something with Horatio that may not be what he wants. Back off and see what happens, you certainly don't want to scare him away. _

Horatio used his card to open the door to their room and suddenly said, "Cal, I'll go walk around for a while in order to give you time to get ready for bed and you can have the bathroom first."

Calleigh was disappointed and she hoped her face was not making her feelings obvious. "Ok Handsome, just give me 30 minutes and you should be safe." _Horatio did notice her disappointment. Oh Calleigh, if you only knew how much I'd love to wash your back and…._ Horatio shook his head.

"Handsome are you alright?" Calleigh had noticed he suddenly looked wistful and not all together there.

"I'm fine Calleigh. I'll be back," turning he walked down the hall toward the elevators.

Horatio waited until she shut the door and he turned around and sat in a small sitting area near their room and stared at the floor, attempting to block the images in his mind of Calleigh in the shower completely naked.

After 35 minutes he opened the door to the room to find Calleigh already in bed and she smiled at him and asked, "Does it matter to you which side you sleep on?"

Horatio's throat was dry, but he managed a low "No…either one is fine." Taking one of his suitcases in the bathroom he began running the water for a cold shower. Knowing he had put off getting into bed with her for as long as he possibly could, he eased into the bed in a t-shirt and long pajama bottoms, keeping to his side of the bed as he thought Calleigh was asleep.

Then he heard her sweet voice whisper, "Good night Handsome."

He turned his head and she was smiling so sweetly at him as he stammered trying to smile, "Sweet dreams Calleigh."

It seemed sleep was never going to come, Horatio thought as he lay there in the bed with Calleigh, almost within an arm's reach of him. _I knew this was going to be difficult, I but had no idea exactly how hard it was actually going to be forcing myself to keep my hands off of her. Calleigh you just don't know what you do to me Sweetheart._

Sometime in the night after he had finally drifted off, he was suddenly awakened by an arm snaking around his waist and a leg intertwined with his. Calleigh had rolled over right up against his body and he could feel the heat she radiated through his pajamas_._

Horatio swallowed hard and gave up, unable to resist any longer. _Oh Sweetheart, _he said to himself as he wrapped her sleeping form in his arms_, then softly kissed her forehead, you feel wonderful._

**I intended to publish over the weekend, but it turned out to be too busy. Thanks for the reviews, it makes it worth my time to write something people enjoy reading!**

_**TBC…**_


	7. Chapter 7

**A Father's Heartache**

**Chapter 7**

Calleigh stirred and as she began slowly coming out of sleep, she could hear a steady heartbeat under her right ear. _That's odd,_ she thought, _I must be having a weird dream, _then she realized her head was propped on something warm and she gradually opened her eyes to discover her head was on Horatio's chest as he held her wrapped in a warm embrace.

"Good morning sleeping beauty," Horatio said smiling at her as she raised her head in shock as she discovered she was lying beside him with her arm around his waist.

"Um…good morning Handsome," she managed to stammer as she attempted to pull away as she added, "I'm sorry Horatio, I promised I would behave…and…"

"Calleigh," he softly said as he continued holding her, stopping her from pulling away, then tilting her head up with his fingertips where he could look into her eyes. "Sweetheart we need to talk. Why don't we get up and go find us some breakfast?"

Searching his eyes trying to read his thoughts, she saw a tenderness there that she had never noticed before. "That would be nice Horatio."

Reluctantly he released his hold on her and suggested she have use of the bathroom first. He stayed in bed relishing the time he had held her in his arms while she slept, giving him the freedom to run his fingers through her hair and feel the softness of her skin as he tenderly caressed her face. During those early morning hours, he knew in his heart that he could never live without her…he just prayed that she felt the same toward him.

All through breakfast Calleigh was concerned as Horatio seemed nervous and barely talked other than out of necessity, he gave her the feeling that something was really troubling him. _I wonder if it really did bother him when I slid over next to him in the night, but I didn't know I had done it until I woke up…maybe his initial response was him being a gentleman about it, not wanting to hurt my feelings._

"Calleigh, why don't we walk to the park by the lake and sit on a bench in the shade of the trees?"

"Sounds good to me, I am so full I need the walk and by the way thank you, that was a wonderful breakfast Horatio, but you don't need to keep paying for everything, after all, it was my decision to come up here."

Horatio just smiled. "I am enjoying you being here Calleigh…I want to treat you."

They walked to the park hand in hand and found a bench where they could see Lake Michigan and the numerous boats that were already cruising around. There was a gentle breeze blowing and the temperature was very pleasant and mild making the sunny Saturday morning perfect for staying outdoors. Horatio had reminded Calleigh to put on some comfortable walking shoes before they left for breakfast so they could do a little sightseeing today.

At first they both sat in silence, staring out over the lake until Horatio leaned forward and put his elbows on his knees, taking his sunglasses off he fiddled with them as he softly began,

"Calleigh, um…we need to talk about last night."

"Horatio I am so sorry I bothered you…I…"

"I'm not Sweetheart," he suddenly said, interrupting her as he turned and smiled at her and added, "in fact, your actions last night gave me the push to have this discussion with you." Calleigh sat there bewildered by his comment.

"Sweetheart," he said, as he reached for her hand, "I loved the feeling of you next to me. We have known each other for over ten years and you have affected me in a good way since the first day I saw you, but last year when I woke up in that hospital bed, and yours was the first face I saw, I knew for sure then how much I loved you."

Horatio looked into her eyes that were welling with tears and wondered if he was alone in feeling this way, _perhaps I will scare her off, but I have started bearing my soul to her and I must go on, explaining the feelings I have for her, I just hope I don't push her away._

"Calleigh, I now wonder how I could have been so blind all of these years because for the first time I understand just what you mean to me and I can't believe what I feel with you. When I look into your eyes, I see the love you have and I only hope it could be for me. Long ago, I had given up on feeling this emotion again, on feeling love again…but I do now…I love you, I need you Sweetheart. "I will understand if you don't feel the same, I just hope we can still be friends after this…I…" Horatio hung his head and couldn't continue because he knew he couldn't handle it if she didn't feel the same.

Calleigh wiped the tears off her cheeks with her hands and sat there attempting to calm her heart rate as it had soared upon hearing his confession of love for her.

"Horatio…I…I am shocked that you feel that way toward me," she said as she reached out and cupped one side of his face, gently turning his face toward her. "I just can't explain the feeling I had as I woke up this morning in your arms…it felt so warm, so right. I want to be there for you when you need me to comfort you if you will let me. I have never known a man like you so strong, yet so tender; a man full of compassion for those hurting; a man always seeking justice for those wronged. I am thrilled that you love me because I love you so much and have for a long time."

Horatio felt a wave of happiness sweep over him as he stood and reached for her hand and pulled her up close to his chest with his arms around her waist and asked, "Calleigh, may I kiss you?" He asked so sweetly before tenderly wiping her fresh tears from her cheeks with his hand.

"If you don't, I will shoot you," she replied as she smiled softly at him.

Leaning in, he brushed her lips lightly, causing her breath to catch then as he felt her relax in his arms, he took her lips with a deep, loving kiss that lasted until he had to break away so they could both could get some air. Then he placed his forehead against hers and asked,

"Oh Calleigh, how are we going to handle our work situation…after all, I am your supervisor."

"Not on our time Horatio…off duty, you are only the man I love, the man I want to share my life with," she answered as she brought her hands up and wrapped her arms around his neck.

Horatio embraced her and hugged her so close, fusing her body into his.

Relaxing their hug, Horatio was able to find his voice through all the emotion and suggested, "We better walk on Sweetheart, seems we are drawing a lot of attention from others around."

Calleigh then looked around the area noticing they had attracted a small crowd standing around with small children smiling at them. She looked back up into Horatio's eyes and asked,

"Any suggestions?"

"Um-hum, one is very prominent in my mind, but we need to enjoy this beautiful morning outside. How about…we walk to Navy Pier and after looking around we will grab a bite of lunch and then head back to our hotel…and, um relax for a while," he said smiling sweetly at her as his eyes reflected his intentions for the afternoon.

"As long as I'm with you…I don't care where we are…but I can't wait for our afternoon!" Horatio chuckled and thought, _neither can I Sweetheart._

After they finished eating their lamb and feta cheese sliders at a Greek restaurant where they enjoyed their lunch on a roof shaded outside deck, affording them a magnificent view of Lake Michigan, Horatio called Kyle to check on him.

"Hey Son, how are you feeling today?"

"That is great news Kyle," Horatio dropped the phone away and told Calleigh, "they got Kyle up and he walked down the hall with Sam's help."

Calleigh grinned and commented, "That is great!"

Back to Kyle Horatio began, "We just got through with a bite of lunch and…"

"I found a room at The Mark hotel on Michigan Avenue. Yes, that's where Calleigh is staying. Um, Kyle I won't go into that now." Calleigh grinned at Horatio imagining what Kyle just asked as she watched a blush beginning to show on his face.

"Listen, Calleigh had a great idea of us bringing some Chicago pizzas to your room tomorrow evening and having dinner together."

"Great, she knows the best place in town…say about 7? Alright Son, we'll see you and Sam then. Call me if you need me ok? I love you too Kyle, Bye."

After walking around the pier to let their lunch settle, they rode the huge Ferris wheel, snuggled together in the gondola that they had to themselves and saw very little of the city from their ride. Completing that, Calleigh wanted to ride the carousel, bringing back memories of her childhood. Horatio went along with her, but felt a little out of place since he had not been on one since his childhood. To his surprise, he actually enjoyed the ride thinking it was mainly because Calleigh was having such a good time.

It was mid-afternoon and Horatio suggested they begin heading back to their hotel. He had enjoyed the day with Calleigh immensely, feeling more relaxed than he had been in a long time.

"Thank you Calleigh for a wonderful time," he said as he smiled and hugged her to his side as they walked with their arms around each other.

"I had a great time Handsome."

Later that evening as they lay in bed after making tender love, they were both spent. Calleigh snuggled up against Horatio and whispered, "That was wonderful…I have never felt so loved Horatio."

Horatio kissed the top of her head as she rested her head on his chest, as he had an arm wrapped tightly around her he replied weakly, "Calleigh…that is only because I love you so much. And I might add, I have never in my life felt someone as wonderful as you were tonight…your love is so intoxicating Sweetheart."

They both fell into a peaceful sleep and woke up a couple of hours later in each other's arms. "Sweetheart," Horatio began, "why don't we get a shower and order dinner to the room tonight?"

"I'd say that is a great idea Handsome."

Later as they lay in bed, there was no space between them and Horatio felt more contented than he had in years. _I never dreamed it would be this wonderful,_ he thought as he drifted off to sleep with Calleigh in his arms.

They slept in the next morning and enjoyed a leisurely day, enjoying every minute of being together as they walked around the Museum of Science and Industry. Calleigh had thought he would love seeing everything considering his science background, and she was right.

Three and a half hours later, Horatio was driving them toward the Patton Army hospital with 3 pizzas that he and Calleigh had purchased for their evening with Kyle and Sam. After a great evening with the young couple, and the inquisitive looks Kyle was giving them both, Horatio stood and said he and Calleigh had better be heading back to the hotel as they had to be up early the next morning to meet with the sergeant at CPD headquarters.

"Kyle, do everything the physical therapist shows you tomorrow…it will be important in the long run, believe me."

"I will Dad," Kyle replied as he turned and smiled at Sam, "I want to get better for Sam."

"And you will Son…you will." Horatio bent over and hugged Kyle as he sat in the chair with Sam by his side.

"Have a good night and we will stop by tomorrow, ok?"

"Great Dad," Kyle said and added as he winked at his dad and then Calleigh as she hugged him, "you guys have a great night too." During the evening, Kyle had picked up on the change in both of them and smiled hoping he was right in his assumption.

The next morning, Horatio and Calleigh walked into the CPD headquarters and signed in at the front desk, telling the lady that Sergeant Pat O'Brien was expecting them. She pointed to an area where they could wait and the sergeant would be notified they were there. After a few minutes, a man approached them and stopped when they stood to greet the man.

"I'm Sergeant O'Brien, how may I help you?"

Calleigh looked quizzically at the sergeant and replied, "I spoke to you last week over the phone after you called the Miami PD Crime Lab concerning a Robert Johnson."

The man looked puzzled at her and said, "I never called Miami PD last week or any other time. We are looking for him, yes, but I didn't know of a connection with Miami."

Calleigh's face suddenly drained of color as she turned and looked at Horatio. "Horatio, the caller told me he was Sergeant O'Brien. Who did I talk to?"

**TBC…**


	8. Chapter 8

**A Father's Heartache**

**Chapter 8**

Calleigh was still puzzled as she and Horatio sat in O'Brien's office waiting for the sergeant to pull up the Johnson case files on his computer.

"I must say how honored I am to finally meet you Lieutenant Caine. I have heard about your department in Miami for years and I must say your department's reputation for solve rate is extraordinary."

Horatio smiled and glanced at Calleigh, "Thank you, I have a top notch team…they deserve the credit."

Calleigh returned his smile and thought; _we couldn't be as effective without you Handsome._

"Here we go," O'Brien commented. As he perused the file, he pointed out some important facts about the evidence they had gathered at the crime scene of Johnson's wife. "I wish I hadn't had to put this case on ice a while back, but our case load increased tremendously and we had really reached a dead end. Plus, Johnson seemed to totally disappear, until now."

"I understand sergeant, we often have to set aside cases in Miami…criminals don't give us a break very often to catch our breath," Calleigh remarked.

"Would you care to ride out to the scene where Mrs. Johnson's body was found?"

"We would sergeant," Horatio answered.

It was about a 30 minute drive out to a subdivision, Palmero Heights where Horatio and Calleigh noticed the area contained what looked like a large number of abandoned warehouses.

"Delores Johnson's body was found in a stand of trees just to the left of this empty warehouse," O'Brien stated. They had no way of knowing, but Johnson was outside the warehouse working on his car and noticed the police vehicle when it first entered the compound at the area's entrance gate.

"How did you discover her body out in this deserted area?" Horatio asked as they walked toward the trees.

"A tip…we have always suspected it was Johnson himself that called it in. Seems he likes for other people to find his handiwork; it appears to give him some sort of thrill showcasing the results of his actions. He had been under the care of a psychiatrist at the time of his wife's murder, but the doctor told us that she thought Johnson was only dangerous to himself. She claimed he never gave any indication that he would be violent toward others."

Horatio thought, _how many times I have heard that in my years of law enforcement._

They got out of the car and began walking toward the site where the body was found. For some reason Horatio couldn't shake an uneasy feeling that suddenly overwhelmed him indicating trouble was imminent. He looked to his left, toward O'Brien and thought he saw the glint of sunlight off of metal in the thicket of trees, but before he could mention what he saw to O'Brien, gunfire erupted and the sergeant crumpled to the ground. Horatio spun to his right and threw his arms around Calleigh pushing her down and twisting his body to be underneath her absorbing the blow upon impact with the ground behind a stack of old barrels.

Seconds after they were down, Horatio asked breathlessly, "Calleigh…are you ok?"

She answered, "I think so…are you?" Horatio rolled off of her and groaned slightly as he pulled the Sig Sauer out of its holster. "I'm ok…," he answered gasping to catch his breath, "impact…knocked the breath out of me."

Shots pummeled the barrels in front of them and Horatio waited until they stopped to raise his head enough to look in the direction of the sergeant who was not moving. Reaching in his inside coat pocket, he took out his cell phone and called 911.

"This is Lieutenant Caine, there is an officer down, Sergeant Pat O'Brien at um, 4186 Turning Street, send paramedics and back-up, we are under fire. I repeat, officer down at 4186 Turning Street, need back-up immediately."

Horatio, looking over at Calleigh said, "Sweetheart, I need to get to O'Brien and see if I can help him. Cover me, I'll go on the count of three," he instructed as he reached for her hand and held it as he stared into her eyes momentarily. "Whatever happens out there Cal…stay put until help arrives."

"Horatio please be careful…there may be more than one shooter."

"I'll be alright Cal. Just stay down as much as possible after you cover me. Don't expose yourself."

Horatio whispered, "One, two…three," he stood firing toward the stand of trees and ran for cover behind a pile of scrap metal while Calleigh successfully kept the shooter down in his position with covering gunfire.

Calleigh gave Horatio a moment then popped up over the barrels and began firing again enabling him to get to O'Brien who was lying out in the open. Horatio made it to the man and grabbed both arms and began dragging him back to the safety of the scrap metal, unable to fire his weapon as it took both hands to pull the man's weight. Just before reaching the pile Horatio felt like a hot poker had stuck him in his left arm and he almost lost his grip on O'Brien but made it back to safety.

Sirens were heard in the distance screaming as they made their way to the location and suddenly the shooting stopped. Horatio had felt a weak pulse when he checked O'Brien to see if he was alive. He then managed to shed his suit coat, sliding it over his injured arm and folding it to hold against the sergeant's wound in his stomach, attempting to slow the blood flow.

Calleigh ran over to them after the shooting had stopped and was alarmed to see Horatio leaning back against the pile with blood running down his left arm.

"Horatio you've been shot!"

"I'm ok Calleigh…just a flesh wound. O'Brien was not as lucky…he took one in the gut."

Horatio sat on the gurney being tended to by the paramedics as they loaded O'Brien in a medical helicopter taking him to the hospital.

"Sir, you need to go to the ER to let a doctor look at this and get some antibiotics," the paramedic told him as he put a bandage on Horatio's arm.

Horatio balked at doing that, but Calleigh gave him a serious look and backed-up what the young man just said.

"Horatio, you ARE going to the ER…you don't want it to get infected."

"Calleigh, I don't need to go in an ambulance…it's not that serious."

One of the CPD detectives was still standing near the gurney getting an account from them of what had happened during the shootout and spoke up, "I'll be glad to take you Lieutenant. Just give me a couple of minutes to get the forensics team going on collecting evidence and I will take you to the hospital the department uses."

Horatio grimaced in disgust while Calleigh thanked the man. "Why do you balk at getting help Horatio? It's for your own good."

He softened his look toward her and replied, "It will waste so much of our time Calleigh and I want to go to police headquarters to hopefully find out what this was all about."

"As do I Handsome, but you are more important right now." Horatio smiled and continued holding her hand.

The doctor in the trauma department put a few stitches in Horatio's arm and gave him a bottle of anti-biotic pills instructing him to begin taking as soon as he ate lunch and gave him a couple of pain pills for that night when he went to bed.

As Horatio and Calleigh walked out of the ER, they were besieged by local news media wanting to speak with the Miami policeman who risked his life to save a Chicago police officer. Horatio never liked the news media because he felt most of the time they were after sensationalism and not the facts. Reluctantly he answered a few questions, then one of the detectives taking him and Calleigh back to police headquarters spoke up and told the reporters that was all they were saying and led the way to the police vehicle.

"Thanks for the rescue back there."

The detective chuckled and replied, "Don't know if the media is as aggressive in Miami as they are here…"

"They are, believe me," Horatio responded.

Once back at headquarters they learned the forensics team had in fact identified the shooter as being Robert Johnson. It appeared he had been staying in the abandoned building for a while and left in a hurry after hearing the sirens approaching.

One of the detectives asked Horatio and Calleigh, "Did you see a vehicle parked near the building when you arrived?"

"We didn't," Calleigh spoke up.

"He probably had it hidden, but accessible for a quick escape," the detective said. "Too bad, would have been helpful to have a vehicle description and a tag number."

The conversation lagged momentarily and Horatio asked, "Any news on O'Brien?"

"He's in surgery…from what I hear, it's pretty bad. They said the actions you took though gave him a fighting chance. He has a wife and two young kids…it will be hard on them if he doesn't make it which makes the situation more difficult." Horatio shook his head and looked down at the floor.

Then suddenly Horatio's phone signaled an incoming call. Looking at the screen he saw it was Eric.

"Horatio"

"H, are you still helping Calleigh on the Johnson case?"

"I am Eric."

"I got a phone call a few minutes ago with a strange message the caller said to give to you…'Hope you liked act 1 of my new play, titled The Caines, stay tuned for act 2. Glad the blonde made it to Chicago, it helps to have you all together...father, son and lady friend'. You have any idea what he was talking about H?"

Horatio felt a chill travel down his spine as he quickly glanced over at Calleigh…she noticed his sudden change of facial expression and looked back at him confused.

TBC…


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: Thanks for all the reviews and reads! I appreciate each one very much! I will try to update again soon.**

**A Father's Heartache**

**Chapter 9**

Horatio punched his phone off and sat in the chair oblivious to anyone or anything else for a couple of minutes. _ How on earth does he know Kyle is in Chicago? Kyle is extremely vulnerable in that hospital right now…anyone could pose as a hospital employee and do something horrible to him or Sam. _Turning his head, Horatio looked at Calleigh and reached for her hand, not caring if the detective saw the gesture. _Oh Cal…I can't lose you now, now that I have felt your love, tasted it and found who I belong with for the rest of my life. I will die before I let anything happen to the two most important people in my life._

"Horatio…are you ok? What did Eric call about, was it concerning Johnson?" Calleigh was alarmed at the quick change she saw in his face…it was similar to that morning when he saw the army officers walking toward the conference room at the lab.

"Horatio…" Calleigh repeated.

Focusing on Detective Wilson, Horatio got to his feet and announced, "Miss Duquesne and I need to go, um there is something important we need to take care of, if you don't mind, Detective."

Calleigh stood to her feet beside Horatio, wondering what had suddenly changed.

"That's fine Lieutenant, we will work with the evidence more and see what else might show up. I have your cell phone number and I will get in touch with you if we find anything." The detective wondered what the phone call was about, but thought whatever it concerned the news visibly shook the Lieutenant.

"Thank you Detective."

Horatio motioned for Calleigh to walk ahead of him and once they were in the hallway headed toward the elevators she stopped and asked, "Horatio, what is wrong?"

"I'll tell you when we get in the car Sweetheart."

As they sat there in the SUV in the police headquarters parking lot, Horatio explained to her what Eric had called about. After hearing it, Calleigh understood why he was shaken by the information.

"Are you going to tell CPD about the threat?"

"I will after I make sure you and Kyle are as safe as possible. Actually with Kyle in an army hospital, I doubt the local police could do anything about protecting a patient there. I need to speak to the hospital administration about security for him."

"Calleigh," Horatio began in a soft voice, then turned and looked into her eyes and asked, "would you consider returning to Miami earlier than planned…for me, for my sanity?" Before reaching his hand out and gently stroking the strands of her golden hair back off of her face.

"Leaving you by yourself to face whatever this lunatic has planned for you? I don't think so, Handsome."

Horatio hung his head, knowing what a strong-willed woman she was which was one of her qualities he admired, but also frightened him.

"Handsome…look at me," slowly Horatio raised his head and turned toward her, "Horatio, I am a trained police officer…you can't think that what happened to Marisol would also happen to me. We work as a team, I will call the chief and explain what is happening here and I may even be able to stay a couple of days beyond my scheduled Thursday return, especially if we get close to capturing Johnson."

For some reason, Horatio did not really think Johnson would be captured that easily, he felt deep in his soul that this case was going to be very difficult to wrap up.

Horatio looked into her eyes and said, "I love you Calleigh Duquesne," taking her hand in his and kissing the back of it, which melted her heart.

"I love you so much Horatio," she replied as she leaned toward him and lightly kissed his lips.

"We need to go see what can be done about Kyle's safety at the hospital," Horatio said as he started the vehicle.

Arriving at the Patton Medical Center, Horatio and Calleigh asked to see the head of security. The young girl at the information desk directed them to the 2nd floor, and to a receptionist there who could help them.

After Horatio explained their reason for seeing the chief of security, the young lady asked them to have a seat and she would explain to the chief the purpose of their visit and let them know if he was available to meet with them. She left and walked down a long hall to a closed door. Five minutes later, she emerged and Horatio saw her walking toward them.

"Chief Tom Armstrong said he would be glad to meet with you, if you will follow me."

After cordial greetings and introductions, the chief got down to business fairly quickly. "Lieutenant, Miss Gibson informed me that a viable threat has been made toward you and your son and Ms. Duquesne?"

"That is correct Chief Armstrong," and Horatio began giving him as much information as he could concerning the situation.

"Um-Hum," the chief responded after Horatio completed the story. "I tell you what Lieutenant Caine, we can move your son to a more secure area and have only hand chosen nurses to attend to his needs. The staff would be restricted to those chosen few to eliminate any possibility of unknowns entering into his room. Of course he would have the same doctor as well. We can also post an armed guard inside the room, which would be preferable to posting one outside of the room, so not to make it appear to be anything out of the ordinary going on."

Horatio thought the plan would be as good as any to provide protection. "May we have a say as to the staff?"

"Sure, do you have any particular nurses in mind Lieutenant?"

"I do. I would like to have Bonnie and Lynn along with Max and Shelton, the rest of the nurses I will leave to your judgment. I have not met the physical therapists, but I trust you will know who to choose."

"I think we can arrange that. How may I contact you during the day or night?" Chief Armstrong asked Horatio. Horatio gave him his cell phone number and the name of the hotel where he was staying.

The chief stood and shook their hands, "I will go set the plan in motion now. I hope we are successful in protecting your son until he is discharged."

"Thank you for your help with this situation…I pray the safety measures will keep everyone safe," Horatio said before he and Calleigh left to go talk to Kyle.

Walking into Kyle's room, he and Sam were playing on her laptop. Kyle looked up and saw his dad and Calleigh, "DAD…are you ok?"

Horatio walked over to hug his son, "I am Kyle, why?"

"Sam and I had the TV on earlier just surfing through the channels, you know and on a local news station we saw a story showing you coming out of a hospital. You saved a policeman they said…what happened? They said you were injured!"

"Just a little flesh wound on my left arm…nothing bad. Kyle, Calleigh and I need to talk to you and Sam about something important." Horatio and Calleigh began explaining what had happened and the plan they had worked out with hospital security.

Horatio and Calleigh spent the rest of the afternoon and early evening with the young couple before leaving to go find some dinner.

They found an intimate, casual steakhouse along Michigan Avenue, and enjoyed two excellent steaks before driving to their hotel. Entering their room, Horatio checked everything making sure the room was secure, then he turned to Calleigh, wrapping her in his arms, he began kissing her tenderly before quickly taking them both to a level of passion that overwhelmed Calleigh.

Breaking momentarily to catch their breath, Horatio whispered, "I can't believe how much love I see in your eyes when you look at me…what have I done to deserve you Sweetheart?"

"Just for being you Handsome," Calleigh answered breathlessly.

"Could I interest you in a shower with me?" He said as he softly nuzzled her neck, then he moved his kisses along her collarbone causing a low moan to escape her lips.

"That sounds…wonderful to me Handsome."

Later, as they lay in bed in each other's arms, Horatio realized Calleigh had drifted off to sleep. He kissed the top of her head, pulling her closer to his side then whispered, "I love you so much Calleigh," and shortly succumbed to sleep himself.

Horatio awoke suddenly and glanced at the clock beside the bed _3am._ Calleigh was resting on his chest, sleeping soundly, as he lay there in the dark stillness, he wondered if something had woken him. Then he heard a sound coming from the room's door…_someone is working on the lock!_

Slowly he tried easing himself out from under Calleigh so he could wake her silently, knowing she would be confused being disturbed from sleep. Calleigh stirred and began mumbling, "You…you need to…" Horatio clasped his hand across her mouth which startled her awake, her mind racing as to what was happening.

"Shhh, Cal," Horatio whispered. "Someone is attempting to unlock the door and I want you to get your gun, then ease out of bed and lock yourself in the bathroom. Call 911 as quietly as you can. I have my gun…I'm going to let them come in so I can detain them for the police."

Calleigh followed Horatio's instructions, but before leaving him to call 911 she whispered, "Please be careful Horatio."

Horatio smiled, "I will, now scoot," he as he patted her on her rear.

Just as Calleigh locked the bathroom door, Horatio saw the light stream in from the hallway as the man opened the door and eased in. Horatio let him take several steps into the room and the man stopped about 4 feet away from him when Horatio flipped the light switch as he pointed his gun at the man.

"Police…" was all Horatio could yell before the man swiftly kicked the gun from Horatio's grip in a martial arts move, then spun around and struck Horatio in the chest with another kick. Horatio immediately fell to the floor in excruciating pain, as another kick landed on the side of his head, but Horatio struggled to his feet and wobbly pursued as the man ran back out the door into the hallway. Horatio watched as the man paused momentarily, looking back toward him and he realized it was Johnson who then pushed open the stairway door making his escape.

Horatio fell to the floor in pain as Calleigh ran out of the room with her gun drawn and saw him writhing in pain on the floor.

"HORATIO!" She screamed as she ran to him and fell to her knees beside him.

**TBC….**


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N: Someone who sustains such an injury to the chest may not react like Horatio, but from what I have read, it can be serious. I hope everyone enjoys this chapter!**

**A Father's Heartache**

**Chapter 10**

"Horatio, talk to me if you can. What happened to you?" Horatio was holding his chest and Calleigh was concerned he had been stabbed, but she didn't see any blood on his t-shirt. She called 911 again and asked for an ambulance as Horatio could not talk to her, he was in so much pain it scared her. The thought that he might be having a heart attack was forefront in her mind.

The police arrived and Calleigh explained what had happened as she continued to hold Horatio in her arms attempting to comfort him as tears rolled down her cheeks. It hurt her so badly to see him suffering like this. Finally, after what seemed like forever, paramedics arrived and began assessing Horatio's condition.

"Ma'am, we need to take him to the ER to be examined by a doctor. Do you have a preference of which hospital?"

"Um I guess Chicago Memorial." It was the same hospital the detective took them to for Horatio's gunshot wound.

"Is he having a heart attack?" Calleigh asked the young man as they were lifting Horatio onto a gurney after having placed an oxygen mask on him to help his breathing and started an IV that was giving him medicine and was beginning to give him some relief.

"No, that doesn't look as if that's his problem, he appears to have received a severe blow to his sternum or breastbone, but the doctor won't know if it is broken until they can x-ray."

"I want to go with him, let me just throw on some clothes real quick," Calleigh said as she stepped back into the room quickly putting on clothes, securing Horatio's gun, then grabbing a pair of pants for him and was back out in the hallway in less than 2 minutes to ride to the hospital in the ambulance.

After arriving at the hospital, Horatio was examined by a doctor who then ordered chest x-rays with a sternum view. He explained to Calleigh that Horatio's sternum might be fractured, but if the x-rays came back negative he would go further and order an MRI that would give a clearer view to rule out any possibility of a fracture.

Calleigh sat in the small trauma room waiting for Horatio to be brought back after the tests were completed. It seemed to take forever before he was rolled back into the room. He was so still she thought as the orderlies positioned his bed and IV lines.

After they had left, Calleigh leaned over the bed softly rubbing Horatio's cheek with her thumb as she felt a tear escaping down her cheek. Horatio gradually opened his eyes, feeling her tender caress on his face.

He smiled slightly and whispered, "Hey there Sweetheart…are you alright?"

Calleigh had to chuckle a little as she wiped the tears off of her face and shook her head, "I am fine, but you scared me to death Horatio."

He looked into her eyes and replied, "I'm sorry Beautiful…didn't mean to. Did you see Johnson…run…out of our…room?" then he drifted back off into a drug induced sleep. Calleigh strongly suspected that was who it was that broke into their room.

Dr. Watson walked into the room with Horatio's test results. "No fracture showed up on either the x-rays or MRI, but I think we need to keep him at least for the rest of today for observation and also to help control his pain. I will be reducing the amount of pain medicine, so he will be more alert which will allow us to effectively gauge the severity of the injury. He should be coherent within an hour as the pain killer in his system decreases."

"Thank you doctor," Calleigh said.

Calleigh debated as to whether to call and tell Kyle what happened, but decided it would be better to wait until later so Horatio could talk to him, himself. Her cell phone signaled an incoming call and it almost made her jump out of her skin. Looking at the screen she saw it was Eric.

"Hey Eric…in the lab kinda early aren't you? What's up?"

"Morning Calleigh, listen is H with you? I have been calling his cell phone for a couple of hours and not getting a response."

"Yeah Eric, I am with him at Chicago Memorial Hospital…."

"What's wrong? Is he ok?"

"It seems Johnson attacked him last night in his hotel room. When he first got here, the doctors were afraid his sternum was fractured, but after x-rays and an MRI, they detected no fracture which I'm grateful for. They gave him pain medication and he is still under, but his doctor told me they were starting to reduce the medicine and he should be alert later in the day."

"Cal, what about Kyle is he safe?"

"Yeah, the hospital took more security measures so he should be ok."

"What about you? Are you going to be ok?"

Calleigh thought, _if you had of asked me that a little earlier, I would have had to answer no because Horatio was not alright._

"I'm fine Eric. Anything new going on concerning the case?"

"There is Calleigh…um, the reason I called was to check on the well-being of H because Johnson called again and said, 'Tell the blonde bitch if she knows what's good for her, she will get as far away from the Lieutenant as possible because next time I'm not going to fail in my mission. Their nights will come to an abrupt end.' What was he referring to Calleigh about your nights?" Calleigh suddenly didn't know how to respond. Her silence though confirmed to Eric what it referred to.

"Calleigh, do you know what you are doing? Horatio is your superior…this could ruin your career if it gets out. Besides that, it will affect the team adversely…you know how people think, you will essentially be considered a teacher's pet. I would hate to see that happen to you Cal."

Calleigh stood and walked out of the room so she could talk without Horatio possibly hearing her side of the conversation.

"We are not going to broadcast our feelings Eric and I will ask you not to mention this to anyone else. It's not like you describe…we can't help what our hearts tell us. I love him and he loves me and we have had these feelings for each other a long time."

Eric felt the pain of her statement of declaration of love for Horatio deep in his heart. "Even when you and I were dating, you were in love with him?" He asked not believing what he was hearing, his voice louder than before.

"I'm sorry Eric."

Eric hung his head and was silent for a minute, but then said, "Cal, I won't tell anyone, but know this it's not going to look good for you. H should know better than to do this to you."

"Horatio didn't do anything to me except love me Eric and if that's wrong, I don't want a career!" Her voice rising in pitch as she blurted it out, receiving looks from those around her. "We truly love each other and our love will not interfere with our work."

"Hmm, I don't know about that Cal. Listen, have H to call me when he can. Tell him I gave Johnson his number like he asked me to do. Take care," Eric said and abruptly ended his call.

Calleigh sat there in the hallway furious, furious with Eric and what he had said to her and the fact that Horatio had given his cell number to a lunatic. _Horatio does mean more to me than my career…no one has ever meant as much to me until now and no one but Horatio ever will._

She eased back into the room and sat down in the chair by Horatio. She almost jumped out of her skin when she heard a deep, raspy voice suddenly call out, "Cal…"

Calleigh stood up and leaned over Horatio and softly cooed, "Hey Handsome," changing from furious to a loving tone with him.

"Cal…Eric knows about us?"

Shocked, Calleigh stammered, "He does, thanks to Johnson, he called in another message and referred to our nights together." Horatio grimaced and looked away. "I'm sorry Sweetheart, I…"

"Horatio, I love you. I don't care who doesn't like it. Eric can be so self-righteous at times, and I think he still can't get over the fact I didn't love him."

Horatio took her hand in his and looked deep into her green eyes, "I'm glad you don't love him." He shifted in bed and tried to sit up, but the pain in his chest quickly caused him to rethink that move.

"Handsome, you have a severely bruised sternum and should not try to move around too much. The doctor is reducing your pain medication so they can tell if the tests didn't pick up a fracture."

"When did he say I could leave?"

"He said he wants to keep you here at least for the rest of the day." Horatio frowned at that.

"Calleigh, have you talked with Kyle?"

"I haven't, I thought it would be best if you talked with him, to alleviate any apprehension that he might have when he hears what happened." Horatio nodded his head in agreement.

Horatio looked down momentarily, then back up to her beautiful face and began, "Calleigh, I'm not going to allow Johnson to keep terrorizing us. As soon as I can leave this hospital I am going to do whatever it takes to stop him. I want you to stay with Kyle and Sam in the secure room at the hospital after I set him up, but right now, we are checking out of The Mark and moving to another hotel. I'm going to bait him to come after me and I don't want you to be involved Sweetheart."

"Horatio we are a team, I'm staying with you."

"NO," Horatio blurted out causing him to wince in pain. After the pain subsided he softly said, "no you are not…I'm not going to let him get to you or Kyle if I can help it."

"Always have to be the hero huh…get them all on your own…why can't you accept help from someone else Horatio! You are not invincible you know; looks like you would realize that by now."

Horatio was plainly getting irritated by her accusations and not thinking, he loudly proclaimed, "BECAUSE I can't lose another member of my family Cal, that's why I don't want you involved…ARGH," he moaned loudly as the pain was overwhelming this time and he was having difficulty catching his breath.

"Horatio…calm down," as he continued struggling for breath causing Calleigh to ring the nurse. When the nurse answered she could hear Horatio gasping, and told her she would be right there.

The nurse swiftly made her way over to Horatio and retrieved an oxygen mask off the wall behind his bed and placed it over his mouth. "Calm down Lieutenant, the oxygen will help shortly."

After a few minutes, Horatio's breathing eased back to normal and the nurse asked, "Do you feel better now?"

Horatio softly answered, "Yes…thank you."

"Try not to get excited again right now…you have deep bruising on your chest, alright?" She admonished as she took the mask off of him.

Horatio shook his head in understanding toward the nurse. She looked over at Calleigh who seemed to be calming down as well. Addressing Calleigh she said, "Try to keep him calm. Getting upset will just aggravate his injury," as she was walking out, she turned, telling them to call if they needed anything else and that two food trays were on the way for them.

Calleigh sat down on the edge of the bed and brushed his hair back off of his forehead and softly asked, "You think of me as part of your family Horatio?"

"I do Sweetheart. I love you. I shouldn't have raised my voice to you Calleigh…I'm sorry. I…I just worry about you so much." She then leaned over, careful to place her hand on the bed beside him, and lightly kissed his lips.

"You are the sweetest man I have ever known Handsome and perhaps the most stubborn!"

Horatio smiled wickedly then teasingly asked, "Is that the best kiss you have for me?" Calleigh was glad he was feeling better and they shared a more passionate kiss, stopping before it got too heated.

Horatio spent the rest of the day in the hospital and was not released until that evening with pain killers to take with him. He had talked with Kyle a couple of times, assuring him that he was going to be ok and that he and Calleigh would come by later. Calleigh drove them to The Mark to gather their things and check out. They were grateful that the hotel released them from the reservation with no problems or extra charges, given the circumstances.

Horatio had checked on hotels nearer the army hospital via the Internet on his phone and found one that was nice, but also cheaper in price since it was not downtown. They arrived at the hotel, both pleased with the way it looked so, Horatio allowed Calleigh to check in since MDPD would cover the cost.

They freshened up and ate a quick dinner before visiting Kyle and Sam.

Kyle looked at his father after he and Calleigh arrived and noticed he was still in pain by the way he moved.

"Dad, didn't they give you pain killers?"

They were all sitting around in a grouping of a sofa and a few chairs in the room and Horatio replied, "They did. I'm going to try not to take one though, so I will stay alert."

Later that night, Horatio and Calleigh arrived back at their new hotel and went to bed before they dropped from exhaustion. Before lying down though, Horatio positioned a coat tree leaning on the door so if opened, would make enough noise to wake them.

The next morning as they ate their breakfast before heading to CPD, Horatio's phone alerted him to an incoming call. Looking at the screen it showed "unknown caller".

"Caine," he answered.

"Thanks for a direct line to you Lieutenant…I appreciate it very much."

"What do you want from me Johnson?" When Horatio mentioned that name Calleigh put her fork down and listened intently to the one-sided conversation.

"What do I want…I want you anyway I can get you; through your son or lady friend, doesn't matter to me," Johnson said viciously laughing.

"Why go after them? If you want me, why don't you just take me? Are you scared Johnson?"

That comment set Johnson off. "SCARED of you?" He replied then laughed heartily.

"Well, the way you keep toying with me I think you are a coward especially after what you did to your young daughter, in my opinion, you're nothing but scum."

Infuriated, the man responded, "I'll be glad to show you how much of a man I am Caine. Meet me at 8 tomorrow night at this address." Horatio scribbled the address down on a napkin.

Johnson laughed and said, "Tomorrow night, we will find out how much of a man you are Caine. Feel free to come armed…although your gun won't be much help." Then the call disconnected.

**TBC…**


	11. Chapter 11

**A Father's Heartache**

**Chapter 11**

After the phone conversation ended, Calleigh noticed Horatio's angry expression, then reached across and placed her hand on top of his.

"Handsome, what did he say?"

"Um, he has set up a meeting tonight at 8 o'clock at this address that I wrote on a napkin. He was adamant that I come alone." Horatio stared blankly at the table for minute, finally reaching for his coffee.

"Horatio please let me go with you. You don't need to meet him alone…I'm really afraid of what he might do to you."

Horatio smiled, "I'll be alright Calleigh, I've got too much to live for now." Horatio slid his hand out from under hers and squeezed her hand then tilted his head as he looked deep into her eyes.

Finishing their breakfast, they headed for the hospital to check on Kyle. Shortly after arriving in his room, the physical therapist came for a session and they watched as she worked with him and learned that he was making great progress, which made Horatio feel so much better about Kyle's long-range outcome.

Early afternoon, Horatio and Calleigh told Kyle and Sam goodbye so they could go find some lunch. After they had eaten, Horatio told Calleigh that they needed to go downtown and she silently hoped he had changed his mind about not telling CPD of his meeting tonight with Johnson.

"Are we going by CPD Horatio," Calleigh inquired with obvious hope reflected in her voice.

"No Calleigh, I am not letting them know about tonight. You have seen how situations like this are a complete failure because of too many law enforcement officers around and I'm not taking that chance…I want to catch this bastard for good."

He directed her to an area off of Michigan Avenue and they found a parking space not too far from the store where he wanted to take her.

Walking down the sidewalk hand-in-hand enjoying their stroll together, Horatio abruptly stopped and proclaimed, "Here it is."

Calleigh looked around and saw it was a jewelry store where they had looked in the windows at the displays the first evening after she arrived, as they were walking back to their hotel.

Horatio noticed the look of shock on her face and smiled as she began to stammer, "Horatio, um, what are we doing here?"

Horatio chuckled then wrapped his arms around her pulling her close, even though it caused his chest to hurt, and whispered, "Sweetheart, I can imagine what's going through your mind, but it's not time for that…yet, but I promise it will be one day that is if you will still want me." He leaned back and softly touched her cheek with his hand and saw the tears glistening in her eyes.

"Don't cry Sweetheart," Horatio whispered as he lightly kissed her lips.

Taking her hand, he opened the door to the store with his other and let her go in first. Horatio walked to the counter and asked the clerk if they could look at the necklace on display in the window. Horatio remembered how Calleigh had admired the beautiful yellow diamond necklace and wanted to buy it for her, if she wanted it. It was a piece of jewelry that depicted simple elegance.

The clerk brought it to them and Horatio asked Calleigh to turn around while she held her hair up, allowing him to put the necklace around her neck. Calleigh's heart was racing so much she thought it might leap out of her chest.

Horatio gently turned her around, and thought it looked beautiful on her.

"Do you like it Calleigh? It looks so beautiful on you."

Calleigh was speechless for a few moments as she was fighting hard to contain her tears, but finally finding her voice she answered, "I love it Handsome, but are you sure you want to buy this for me? It is so expensive!"

Horatio smiled replying, "I am sure Sweetheart. I want you to have a good memory connected with this trip."

Calleigh smiled, "You have already given me many wonderful memories Horatio."

Horatio paid the clerk and they left, walking back to their SUV, arms wrapped around each other.

"Thank you Handsome, I never dreamed you would buy something like this for me."

"I'd like to give you everything Calleigh…I love you so much," he said as he leaned closer and kissed the side of her head. "What do you say about heading back to our hotel?"

"I say…I would love too," she replied smiling up at him, noticing that his blue eyes had turned a deeper blue.

No sooner had they walked into their room, than they began feverishly undressing each other, exploring each other with their hands and tongues….

"Calleigh, have I told you how much I love you?" Horatio asked as she was cuddled next to him in the bed, their breathing beginning to slow after making tender love.

"You have many times Handsome…and I love you." Horatio hugged her closer to his side and after a few minutes, the room filled with silence as both fell into a peaceful sleep.

Calleigh woke and looked over at the clock by the bed and saw it was 5 o'clock. Fear began building deep inside of her as she thought about what would happen in 3 hours. Quietly turning and lifting up on one elbow, she gazed at Horatio's face noticing how peaceful he seemed right now. She continued watching him sleep for several more minutes, wishing he would consent to her going with him tonight, but she knew he wouldn't change his mind and it would not be to his benefit to argue with him.

Calleigh reached out her hand and traced her finger down the side of his face to his chin, tracing the outline of his lips which caused him to stir then he opened his eyes slightly, smiling as he saw Calleigh smiling at him.

"I love waking up next to you Sweetheart, can I do that for the rest of my life?"

"Hmm, you might be able to do that Handsome," Calleigh answered giggling.

Horatio chuckled and badly wanted to roll her over and tickle her all over for that response, but he was mindful that a move like that would cause tremendous pain.

"I hate to get up right now Sweetheart, but you know I have to get ready and we need to eat dinner. Take a shower with me?"

"Thought you'd never ask Handsome," then she began kissing his neck, moving up to his face, then his lips.

"Umm…we might not make it to the shower if you keep this up Beautiful," he said before returning her kisses.

An hour later, showered and dressed they headed out to dinner after which they planned to go to the hospital and Kyle's room. As they arrived later that evening, Horatio and Calleigh were greeted by Kyle's somber face.

"Kyle, is everything alright?" Horatio asked, slightly alarmed.

"Not really Dad. Why can't you take the police with you tonight when you meet with that crazy guy?"

"Kyle," Horatio's facial expression turned serious as he looked down at the floor, then drew in as deep a breath as he could and raised his head replying sharply, "we have gone over the reasons why I have to do this alone, Son and I am not changing my mind."

"But Dad…," then abruptly stopped as he received a stern look from his father.

Calleigh tried to ease the tension by changing the subject, "Hey Kyle, has the doctor given you any indication when you can blow this joint?"

Kyle hesitated a moment, then answered, "He says Monday right now."

"That's great," Calleigh said.

Horatio asked how physical therapy was going and Kyle responded, "Painfully, but Sam assures me it will be to my benefit in the long run."

Sam was sitting beside Kyle on the sofa and she smiled, squeezing his hand. "That's right Babe, you know the old saying, 'No pain no gain'." Horatio and Calleigh voiced their agreement.

Horatio looked at the time on his watch and saw it was 7:15, then stood and looked at the two people who meant everything to him, and the young girl who seemed to be so good for Kyle, wanting to etch this picture in his mind to take with him.

Calleigh stood with Horatio and took his hand in hers, not holding back the tears as she admonished him, "You come back to me Horatio, do you understand?" Horatio smiled and shook his head that he did.

Kyle stood and hugged his father and slapped his back and quietly said, "Dad please be careful."

Horatio swallowed hard and answered, "I will Son. Calleigh, would you walk out with me?" Calleigh couldn't talk right now, but she shook her head yes. Horatio took her hand and they walked out of the room.

Walking to a sitting area located in an alcove off the hall, Horatio turned and held Calleigh as tight as he could listening to her soft sobs. He leaned back and wiped her tears off of her cheeks and tenderly said,

"Calleigh…I promise you that I will be careful, please be strong for me, ok?" Calleigh smiled and cupped his face.

"You better be." Horatio smiled and kissed her passionately. Then stepped back, turned and walked toward the elevators. As she watched him walk away she thought, _God please watch over him._

Horatio keyed in the address into the GPS and drove out of the hospital parking lot, careful not to aggravate his bruised chest. After a 20 minute drive, he slowly pulled up to an abandoned building. Turning off the vehicle Horatio sat in the dark for a couple of minutes, surveying the area before getting out and walking toward the door.

Drawing his weapon, Horatio reached for the doorknob, turning it slowly wondering if it might even trigger some type of explosion when moved. He wouldn't put anything past this monster. Easing quietly into the building, he noticed a faint light across the dimly lit large open floor space. Staying mostly in the dark, Horatio made his way slowly toward the light, twisting his head from side to side, watching for the slightest movement. Reaching a hallway with the lit room at the opposite end he cautiously made his way toward the door of the room, checking the knobs of every door he passed and found them all locked. With both hands on his gun he held up at eye level, he quickly looked around the doorframe of the room then just as swiftly, stepped out of direct view back into the hallway. His first observation found the room empty, except for a lone table placed at the far wall. He stood still and listened for any sound his ears might pick up from behind him and the area he had first entered, but heard nothing. Slowly he entered the room, gun still raised and as he walked through the door, he suddenly heard Johnson's voice, but it was coming from a recorder on the table.

"Well, Lieutenant Caine, sorry I can't be there with you right now. I know it is disappointing for you, but you see, I have a more important meeting in room 240 at the Patton Army Hospital. I know how much family means to you Caine; I will take good care of them until our real meeting. Will stay in touch…keep your phone handy," and the man broke into an evil laugh.

Horatio froze momentarily when he heard the message, then a wave of nausea suddenly hit him and he screamed, "BASTARD!" Taking his phone out of his coat pocket, as he almost ran back to the building's entrance, he pushed the speed dial number for Kyle's room…no one answered. Frantic, he dialed the nurse's station for Kyle's floor.

"2nd floor north," a woman answered.

"This is Horatio Caine, Kyle's father. Please have security send a team to my son's room," Horatio asked as he started the SUV and threw it into drive, tires screaming as he floored it making a U-turn in the street.

"Lieutenant, the chief of security is walking up now let me hand the phone to him." Horatio's heart was in his throat right now as he weaved in and out of traffic racing toward the hospital.

"Lieutenant Caine, this is Chief Armstrong, I'm sorry, but that lunatic Johnson went into your son's room then shot and killed my officer on duty and both your son and Miss Duquesne are missing." Hearing that news, Horatio suddenly had difficulty focusing on the road.

**TBC…**


	12. Chapter 12

**A Father's Heartache**

**Chapter 12**

After arriving at the hospital, Horatio couldn't get to the second floor fast enough. Instead of waiting on an elevator, he took the stairs, reaching the nurse's station near Kyle's room breathing harder than normal due to his bruised chest.

A nurse not familiar with Horatio noticed his labored breathing and the fact he was sweating, and generally not looking well inquired, "Sir are you alright? Here sit down in this chair for a few minutes," she offered, but he quickly declined.

"Is Chief Armstrong here?" Horatio asked as he leaned on the desk.

"Lieutenant…," Armstrong called out as he saw Horatio at the desk.

"Chief, have you picked them up yet?"

"We are under lockdown and are in the process of checking every floor right now…it will take time given the size of the building, but we are doing all we can to locate them. I have already called CPD and a team is on its way, this event is beyond our capability."

As his breathing became more regulated, Horatio responded, "That was a good decision, we need a team familiar with hostage situations and SWAT. Your men are doing a good job securing the building, at least at the door where I entered. Has anyone checked the basement?"

"Not yet, do you really think he would go down there knowing he would be trapped?"

"I wouldn't count it out." Just then Detective Wilson called out Horatio's name as he quickly approached the two men.

"Horatio," Wilson quickly greeted.

"Mark, glad you and your men are here. Johnson is holding my son and fiancée," Horatio smiled slightly at his choice of description for Calleigh, "possibly in the basement of the hospital. They were last seen leaving this floor via a service elevator."

Chief Armstrong pulled out a blueprint of the building and spread it out on the nurse's desk. "That particular elevator would put them in this quadrant of the basement," pointing to the plans.

Horatio noticed a small enclosure in a back corner of that section and asked, "What would this be?" As he traced the plans with his finger from the elevator to the enclosure, thinking Johnson could be using it to hold his two captives.

"It's the chief custodian's office enclosed by glass walls," Armstrong answered.

"So a phone would be located there?" Horatio asked.

"Yes."

"Would you have the number?" Horatio further inquired.

Armstrong pulled out his cell phone and began perusing a list of numbers, "Here it is, the number highlighted." Horatio took the phone handed him and said,

"Let's see if our lunatic will answer," touching the number on the phone's screen.

After three rings, a connection was made. "I can only hope this is Lieutenant Caine," Johnson answered.

Kyle and Calleigh turned their heads in the direction of Johnson, their ears attempting to pick up the slightest sound from the other end of the conversation, hoping it was Horatio assuring them he was alright after going to the fake meeting site. They were each sitting in chairs, handcuffed at opposite front corners of a built-in metal shelving unit in the office, which was causing Kyle excruciating pain in his shoulder having his arms pinned behind him. Their mouths were covered with duct tape so they couldn't shout out, but Calleigh was making noises in her throat as loud as possible, hoping whoever was on the other end would hear her sounds.

Horatio replied, "Unfortunately for you it is." That comment caused Johnson to laugh heartily.

"I would say just the opposite, my good Lieutenant…especially when I have the two people who seem to mean the most to you in my possession," glancing over at his hostages, smiling evilly. "Why don't you come and join the party?"

"I intend to Johnson, and when I'm through with you, hopefully you won't be breathing." Horatio growled.

Horatio's remark elicited an angry response from Johnson, "Just like you killed my brother…well, I may be a more formidable opponent for you Caine, unlike my brother, Edwin Chambers. You do remember him don't you? He was sick, he needed help, yet you played god and determined he needed to die instead."

Horatio was taken aback by that statement and suddenly it all made sense.

***Chambers was the husband of a beauty pageant creator for young girls. A pedophile that preyed on the contestants and subsequently fell to his death, after being cornered in a movie theater in Miami last fall, when Horatio refused to help pull Chambers up as he dangled from the balcony above the main floor.***

At the time, Horatio thought the sick bastard got what he deserved and still did. _But now_ Horatio thought, _my actions brought this horrible situation on the ones I love._ Horatio felt sick to his stomach, with the realization.

"You will pay for your sins Caine," Johnson goaded and disconnected the call.

Horatio stood frozen to the spot, still holding the cell phone in his hand.

"Horatio, what did Johnson say?" Detective Wilson asked.

Finally Horatio handed the phone back to Armstrong and answered the detective, "He intends to kill them along with me."

"I'll get a team wired for radio contact and…"

"NO…I…I need to go in alone," Horatio cut in locking eyes with Wilson, "too many people going in will mean sure death for the hostages."

"Horatio…it would be suicide for you to go down there without backup."

"I need to finish this…I will wear a radio and contact you if your team can assist, but otherwise I'm the only one going in…it's me he's after."

"HORATIO…" Sam screamed out as she ran toward him and he turned just in time to catch the distraught young lady in his arms.

Between sobs she began relaying to him about what she saw happening in Kyle's room, "I had walked down to the vending machine area to get Kyle a candy bar and soft drink, but when I got back and pushed the door open, this…this man had a gun up against Miss Duquesne's head and the security officer was lying in a pool of blood." Her body racking with sobs as she begged of him, "you've got to help them…_please._"

Horatio clenched his jaw in anger listening to her recall the details to him. _Johnson will pay if it's the last thing I do._

"Sam…Sweetheart, I'm going to find them…don't worry." Horatio softly said as he gently pushed her away from his chest. "Stay here with the nurses and I will be back with both Kyle and Calleigh, ok?" He assured her. Sam nodded her head and wiped her tears from her red, swollen eyes and cheeks, as Horatio led her to Bonnie, asking her to take care of the young lady for him.

"You be careful Horatio…we want to see all of you safe," Bonnie said as she put an arm around the trembling young lady.

Horatio nodded, "I want that too, Bonnie." Horatio then turned and spoke to the chief of security, and Wilson, who helped him place the the wire to the microphone down his shirt sleeve and then Horatio put the earpiece in place. When everything was ready, he walked toward the stairwell, thinking that would be the best way to get to the basement without making as much noise as an elevator arriving.

Horatio spoke to test the pickup of the earpiece and microphone, hearing Wilson loud and clear and they said the same. Easing down the stairway he was thankful he had on his soft-soled loafers. Arriving at the door to the basement, he gradually pulled the heavy door open just enough to get his bearings on his location. Then he opened the door enough to slip in, careful to close the door gently, making the minimum of noise. The element of surprise was the only good thing going for him at the moment.

Raising his gun with both hands and tilting his head to sight it with his dominant left eye, he began to cautiously move in the direction of the custodian's office. Horatio could feel the sweat on his forehead as apprehension attempted to take over, but he kept his mind sharp, looking behind every stack of shelves and all the equipment held in that area, realizing it provided Johnson with excellent cover, and a great advantage.

Thinking he was halfway to the office, Horatio stopped and listened for any sounds his ears might pick up. For a moment, he thought he heard the sound of a grunt like noise, and his ears knew it was Calleigh.

Calleigh and Kyle would talk to each other with their eyes as she kept trying to reach an object behind her on the shelves that if she could manage to reach, would help to unlock her handcuffs. She struggled with everything she had, knowing all their lives depended on her getting free and helping Horatio.

Horatio began to slowly start walking again when something hard slammed into his lower back causing his knees to buckle underneath him sending him, and a section of loaded shelves down to the floor hard. Gasping for breath, he quickly realized he had managed to hold onto his gun and turned to his left, catching a glimpse of Johnson halfway behind a low storage cabinet, and fired toward his target unsuccessfully. Calleigh heard the crash and subsequent gunshot and reached as far as she could, desperately feeling for the metal wire, then finally capturing it with her hand.

Horatio groaned and pulled himself up with the help of a forklift parked close to him and took a moment to catch his breath before starting toward the office again, but changing his course. As he gingerly stepped down the rows of storage, he saw Johnson to his right. Taking advantage of being behind him, Horatio eased closer with his gun raised. Just as he squeezed off a shot, Johnson moved slightly causing the bullet to strike the man's left arm.

"ARGGHH…" Horatio heard Johnson scream as he went down to the floor, but just as quick, Johnson spun around and fired a shot in Horatio's direction, narrowly missing his head. Diving for cover behind stacked crates, Horatio grimaced as he fell against one of the crates.

Wilson was shouting into Horatio's headpiece that they were coming in, but Horatio told him no…for them to give him more time…Kyle and Calleigh were still vulnerable. Horatio got to his feet and saw Johnson was gone and knew he needed to get to that office quick because that last encounter probably changed the situation from cat and mouse to a dangerous finale.

As Horatio approached, the glass walls afforded him a direct view, and saw Johnson enter the small office, grab Kyle's left arm causing him to writhe in pain and pull him up out of the chair while pointing his gun to Kyle's head. Calleigh was on the other side of Kyle, alarmed by Johnson's actions.

Horatio stepped out from behind shelves, just a few feet from the door in plain view of Johnson and called, "Let him go Johnson…it's me you want." Calleigh was relieved to see Horatio standing, but noticed he was fighting pain. She was almost to the point of getting the handcuffs unlocked so she could hopefully cause a diversion long enough for Horatio to get a shot off.

"I'm going to make you feel the pain of losing a family member Caine…you are going to feel what I felt when I lost Ed."

"I know how it feels Johnson…I've lost two members of my family, but I don't intend losing any more. Why don't you quit hiding behind my son and come get me? This is between you and me." As he said that, Horatio felt uneasy and the room began to spin slightly, but he fought off the feeling.

Horatio was trying to get Johnson thinking, hopefully he would make a mistake and he could get off a clean shot as he held his gun up, pointed directly at Johnson. Then unexpectedly, Calleigh leapt from the chair with her hands free causing Johnson to quickly change the angle of his gun and fired a shot at Calleigh which found its target sending Calleigh lurching backward. In that split second, Horatio's heart stopped, but his finger squeezed off his shot hitting Johnson directly between his eyes, triggering him to release Kyle who slumped to the floor beside Calleigh. Johnson fell in the opposite direction like a sack of flour to the floor. The room began spinning worse for Horatio as he took a step, requesting paramedics into the microphone before he fell to the floor.

He fought off unconsciousness, by sheer determination to reach Kyle and Calleigh staggering, clutching the door frame and furniture as he made his way to Kyle and quickly unlocked the handcuffs, freeing his arms.

Kyle whispered, "I'll be ok…check on Calleigh."

Horatio pulled himself over to Calleigh and saw the blood on the side of her head. Alarmed he collapsed on the floor in a sitting position against the shelving, gathering her into his arms he cried, "Calleigh…Sweetheart…" he quickly pressed his fingers to her neck and found a strong pulse, "thank God", he whispered as he pushed her hair back from her face. Horatio then pulled Kyle to his other side after Kyle stumbled over to him, holding them both against his body as he whispered, "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry…," as he kissed each of their foreheads.

SWAT entered the office first and checked to make sure Johnson was dead. Behind them Wilson entered with Dr. Leroy Mitchell, Kyle's doctor. Leroy and a male nurse took Calleigh from Horatio's grasp and laid her gently on the floor. After examining Calleigh's head wound, he motioned for the male nurses, who had come with him to place her on the gurney and get her to trauma, STAT.

Turning to Kyle, he determined that the incision was still closed, but could tell his shoulder had been stretched further than it should have been.

Kyle was feeling a little better and told Dr. Mitchell he was ok, but his dad needed help. Two orderlies helped Kyle into a wheel chair to take him upstairs, but he insisted on staying with his dad.

Dr. Mitchell could see that Horatio was in pain and eased him from a sitting position down flat on the floor. "Horatio, stay with me, I'm going to give you a quick exam."

Finding no external injury, he believed Horatio may have suffered some type of internal injury. The doctor moved to allow two policemen to lift him up and place him on a gurney.

Arriving back upstairs with the injured, Dr. Mitchell called in their lead surgeon to examine Calleigh's head injury. Kyle was placed in an examination room with pain medication being administered by IV while, Horatio was taken down for a CT scan to check out his injuries more thoroughly.

The scan showed Horatio had a badly bruised left kidney and a couple of fractured ribs. The sternum bruise also showed up from the previous encounter with Johnson. Against Dr. Mitchell's advice, Horatio declined getting into a hospital bed instead; he went to Kyle's room and checked on how he was doing. Sam was with Kyle comforting him and Horatio smiled at how much she seemed to love his son.

"Dad, shouldn't you be lying down…you don't look very good." Horatio had a film of sweat on his forehead and he was disheveled looking, unlike his normal self.

"I'm good Kyle…I'm good. I just hope this hasn't set your recovery back."

"Dr. Mitchell doesn't think it has. How is Calleigh?"

"The bullet just grazed her temple…they say she's going to be alright. They told me she would be in a room within the hour and I'm going to stay with her until she wakes up…."

"She is one tough lady Dad…she got hurt trying to save my life."

Horatio smiled and replied, "She is quite a lady Son." It hurt Horatio deep inside to bring back that image of Calleigh's body jerking back with the impact of the bullet and he hung his head thinking he would never forget the sickening sight as long as he lived.

"Go check on her Dad…and when she wakes up, tell her I love her. By the way, I didn't realize just how good you are with a gun, 'til tonight…great shot Dad."

Tears welled in Horatio's eyes at his son's statement and he and softly said as he touched Kyle's cheek, "Thank you Son…have a good night. I'll see you in the morning." He leaned over the best he could and hugged Kyle, then Sam before slowly walking out, leaving to go find Calleigh. As he walked Horatio thought, _that was the most important shot I've made in my life._

Horatio found Calleigh's room and sat in a chair next to her bed. Leaning over slightly, he picked up her hand with his and squeezed it whispering, "Sweetheart…I…I am so sorry I caused this horrible situation for you. Please open your beautiful green eyes…please." Horatio didn't attempt to stop the tears slowly making their way down his cheeks as he reached with his other hand and softly caressed Calleigh's cheek.

Eventually, Horatio leaned back in the large chair and thought he would just close his eyes for a minute as he tried to find a comfortable position for his aching back. Soon he was completely out, missing the moment when Calleigh opened her eyes.

Everything was blurry at first, but she kept closing her eyes and reopening until they began to focus. Realizing she was in a hospital room, flat on her back with a horrific headache, her first thought was about Horatio. Where was he? Is he alright? _God please don't let me find out he…he didn't survive._ She continued staring at the ceiling as tears formed in her eyes, threatening to escape from the corners. She tried to turn her head, but the movement sent a searing pain through her head so, she kept still.

Dr. Mitchell walked in and proclaimed, "Nice to see you back with us Miss Duquesne. You had us all worried…especially him." She saw the doctor indicating someone was to her right. Slowly she turned just enough to see who he was referring to. _HORATIO! Thank God!_ She smiled as he looked so disheveled, his hair mussed and sporting a growth of stubble on his face. He was sound asleep in the large chair.

Keeping her gaze on Horatio she asked, "Is…is he ok?"

"Not really, but he is stubborn – adamantly refused to follow my orders that he needed to be admitted. Said he had to make sure that his son and you were alright." Calleigh smiled.

"How is Kyle?"

"He is fine…just sore, unlike Horatio," That information startled Calleigh.

"What's wrong with Horatio doctor?"

"The CT scan revealed a badly bruised left kidney and an older sternal injury. He evidently has suffered blunt force trauma to his left flank which also fractured two ribs in his back. He should be lying flat in a bed with heat or cold therapy for his kidney and be monitored for loss of blood in his urine."

"Could a bed be placed in here for him?"

Dr. Mitchell looked taken aback and told her he could arrange that.

"I will make sure he follows your instructions." Calleigh softly told him.

Dr. Mitchell left to go arrange the setup.

Horatio stirred and groaned loudly when he shifted his body in the chair. Opening his eyes, he saw Calleigh smiling at him. Jumping up a little too quickly, feeling light-headed he steadied himself on the arm of the chair.

"Hi Beautiful," Horatio said as he stepped closer, "it is wonderful to see your beautiful eyes again Sweetheart." He gingerly sat down on the bed, placing his right hand on the bed beside her to brace himself as he slowly leaned down softly kissing her lips.

"Cal…I'm so sorry this happened to you. I…I…" she pressed a finger to his lips silencing his apology.

"Just tell me you got him."

Horatio's blue eyes locked with her green and answered, "I did…he won't ever bother us again."

About that time, a hospital bed came rolling into the room with Dr. Mitchell walking in behind the orderlies, accompanied by a nurse holding some tubing.

Confused, Horatio turned from watching them set up a bed next to Calleigh's, and looked back at her beautiful smile and asked, "Getting a roommate?"

"I am Handsome," she winked at him.

"Horatio," Dr. Mitchell said as he placed a hand on Horatio's shoulder, "I want you to lie down and let us monitor your injury for a couple of days." Horatio looked around at the doctor, about to protest and Calleigh placed her hand on his arm and said,

"Horatio, you are hurting. I want you to stay with me, please." Horatio chuckled and smiled down at her sighing,

"You know I can't say no to you Sweetheart." Slowly Horatio got to his feet.

Dr. Mitchell escorted him over to the bed and the nurses got him out of his clothes down to his boxers and put him in a hospital gown. After he had lain down in the bed, he realized just how much he was hurting. Then he felt someone lift his gown in the front and pull his boxers off, as a male nurse began preparation for inserting a catheter.

Horatio's eyes flew open and he grabbed the young man's hand and with alarm in his voice said, "Oh no…you're not doing that….Leroy is this necessary?"

"It is Horatio. We need to monitor how much blood your kidney is losing and I'm afraid this is the only way. You won't have to endure it for long."

Turning to look over at Calleigh, he heard her say, "Handsome…you do want to get better don't you?" She said smiling at him.

**TBC…**


	13. Chapter 13

**A/N: As we know, Horatio Caine had a number of enemies…just had to have another crop up! I hope everyone continues to enjoy!**

**A Father's Heartache **

**Chapter13**

Horatio was finally feeling relief as the pain medicine saturated his system…. He had told Leroy earlier that the heart monitor was a little much he thought, accusing the doctor of trying to find something wrong with him when all he needed was rest, but Leroy had insisted it was necessary to reveal any complications from the damaged kidney. And the absolute worst thing was having them put in a catheter…how humiliating he thought, especially in front of Calleigh, even though they had shared a bed together for a few nights now, this was different.

Calleigh was now able to turn her head without as much pain and had been softly convincing Horatio that he needed to let the doctor do whatever was necessary to help him heal. As they had talked across the narrow space between their beds, she could tell Horatio was feeling some relief from the medicine they had already given him and smiled when he didn't answer her last question, hearing his soft, steady breathing, she knew he had finally drifted off.

At some point after Horatio had drifted into sleep, Calleigh had succumbed to her heavy eyelids herself, but a few hours later she was suddenly jolted from sleep by loud shouting. Confused at first, it took her a few moments to realize where she was and that the loud voice was inside the room. There was also some type of alarm chirping from a machine. Turning too quickly, causing a sharp pain in the side of her head, she glanced over at Horatio and noticed he was tossing and turning in his bed mumbling incoherently, but she could make out Calleigh here and there, then he began screaming for someone not to shoot her. _Oh Handsome, you are having a bad dream._

She pulled herself up off the bed even though the pounding in her head screamed for her to lie back down, all she could think about was getting to him and hold him in her arms to stop the nightmare; then the door suddenly flew open and two nurses ran to each side of Horatio's bed.

One nurse observed Calleigh's struggle to get out of her bed and firmly said,

"Miss Duquesne, you need to lay back down, you shouldn't be attempting to get out of bed yet…we are seeing about the Lieutenant." Calleigh realized she would just be in the way so she eased back down on the bed, but raised the head of it to watch.

They told her the monitor had alerted them to the fact that Horatio's heart rate had greatly increased and his blood pressure had dropped, then she overheard one comment to the other that his temperature was 102.5. It was then Calleigh noticed how pale Horatio's face looked quickly alarming her that something was wrong. Then Leroy Mitchell came through the door and hurriedly walked over to Horatio.

"Dr. Mitchell, what's wrong with Horatio?" Calleigh asked with the alarm evident in her shaky voice, but the doctor was concentrating on Horatio so intently he failed to hear her soft inquiry.

After visually inspecting Horatio's left flank area, Dr. Mitchell firmly instructed,

"Call the lab and have a tech come up here, I want a complete blood count, and then I want Ciprofloxacin to be started immediately in his IV and make sure we have some vasopressors on hand just in case his blood pressure doesn't come back up. After drawing his blood and getting the antibiotic started, have him taken down for an MRI… I need a left kidney view and if that is negative, I want a sternal view. Have Dr. Mark Conners paged for standby, in case it is his kidney."

Calleigh saw the concern evident in the doctor's expression as he looked at Horatio and what scared her even more, Horatio was not responsive to any of the doctor's attempts of getting him to acknowledge his questions.

A few minutes later, the lab tech left with his vials of Horatio's blood then one of the nurses began hanging a bag of antibiotic and got it started as Dr. Mitchell stood by watching them get Horatio's bed and IV lines ready so he could be taken for the tests. Watching all of the activity, Calleigh lay in her bed quietly observing the action and felt fear grip her stomach.

Dr. Mitchell stepped over to her after they had wheeled Horatio out of the room and noticed the tears welling in her beautiful green eyes.

Taking her hand gently in his, the doctor softly assured her, "He's in good hands Miss Duquesne. We'll find out what is going on with him shortly, you just try to lay back and rest. Have you slept any tonight?"

"Some," she answered vaguely, her mind still on Horatio.

"What do you think's wrong with Horatio?"

Dr. Mitchell looked down for a moment then back up with a serious expression answered, "With the steady increase of blood in his urine the last couple of hours, I suspect he has a rupture in his injured kidney, which can be fixed; but I'm concerned that it looks as though he has developed Sepsis."

Calleigh drew in a sharp intake of breath…"That can be fatal."

"It can be, but I'm taking measures such as the antibiotic IV to counter any advance in his system. He would have to be going into septic shock for him to be in grave danger. It'll be a little while before we know for certain and I'll come back and let you know what the test results are. You just try to rest…and DON'T get out of that bed unless you have assistance, understand?"

Calleigh knew Dr. Mitchell and Horatio had formed a quick bond between them since Horatio had been here with Kyle for some time now, and because he and the doctor were around the same age. She also could feel his kindness and felt at ease talking to him.

"I want to be with him…what if I got a wheelchair?"

The doctor shook his head no, "Miss Duquesne…"

"Please call me Calleigh, doctor."

"Alright, Calleigh…you have a serious head injury with a concussion and should stay in the bed at least for today. I don't want you moving about much, besides, if Horatio needs surgery to repair his kidney, you would not be able to see him until he is released from the recovery room anyway."

Calleigh looked down and then up into his eyes and asked, "Is he going to be ok?"

"I believe he will be…you just hang in there," he said as he patted her shoulder feeling himself getting a little jealous of Horatio having such a beautiful woman caring so deeply.

Three hours had passed since they had taken Horatio from the room; Kyle and Sam had joined Calleigh in her room waiting on news of Horatio's condition with her so she wouldn't be alone. Dr. Mitchell had been by twice, the first time to tell them they did find a rupture in Horatio's kidney and he was being prepped for surgery; the second time was to let them know the surgery was finished and all went well and he was in recovery, but that he was going to have to stay in ICU for at least tonight so he could be monitored closely. He also informed them that Sepsis did show up in his blood, but the antibiotic was working, proving the infection should not advance further.

Kyle spoke up asking Dr. Mitchell, "How long is my dad going to be in the hospital?"

"Hard to be sure right now…if all goes well, I can probably release him in about 4 days."

"Doctor," Calleigh began with pleading eyes, "Can't I at least visit him when he gets to ICU? I don't want him waking up alone…._please?_"

Noticing the concern in her eyes and sensing she would probably go on her own if he didn't allow her to he answered, "Against my better judgment…I suppose for a short time and I do mean short Calleigh, I don't want you up any longer than 30 minutes – understood?"

"Kyle and Sam will go with me and see that I behave," Calleigh smiled.

"It'll be a couple of hours yet…I'll come get you with a wheel chair and take all of you to Horatio, my rounds should be finished by that time."

"Thank you," she said softly.

In the meantime, Frank had called Calleigh's cell phone letting her know the incident at the hospital had made the national news and they were all alarmed that she had been shot and Horatio injured as well. She brought him up to date on Horatio's condition and he offered to fly to Chicago to be there with her; she thanked him and convinced him that wouldn't be necessary as she had Kyle and Sam with her for support. She expressed that she hoped they would all be back in Miami in a few days.

As soon as Dr. Mitchell wheeled her into Horatio's room in ICU she gasped, putting her hand over her mouth seeing all the tubes and lines connected to Horatio's body. He had an oxygen tube under his noise and machines were beeping and whirring around his bed. Kyle was taken aback by the scene, never before having seen his dad so vulnerable.

"It looks worse than it is…he really is doing well I understand," Dr. Mitchell explained attempting to alleviate their fears. He pushed Calleigh close to the bed and she took Horatio's hand in hers and whispered,

"Hi Handsome…can you hear me?"

He slowly moved his head in the direction of the sound, immediately realizing the sweet voice was Calleigh. He blinked his eyes a few times trying to focus his vision then her beautiful face appeared before him.

"Ca…Cal, um," Horatio croaked out with a dry, raspy voice.

"Shhh, don't try to talk," she sweetly told him.

"Dry…water."

The nurse retrieved the cup on the table next to his bed and told him, "I've got ice chips for you Mr. Caine…no water right now." He opened his mouth and let the nurse place a spoonful on his tongue and sighed in relief, "Feels…good."

Then he turned back to Calleigh and asked, "Are…you ok?"

"I'm fine Horatio…it's you that scared me half to death this morning."

Horatio's lips curled upward slightly, "Sorry."

Then Horatio saw Kyle standing just to the right of Calleigh and he noticed the frightened look on his son's face, "I…I'm…going to be ok Son." Kyle reached out and placed his hand on his dad's chest.

"Promise me Dad?"

Horatio smiled back and answered, "Promise. Take care of Calleigh for me….till I can get…out…of here…," the request died on his lips as he slipped back into unconsciousness.

"He's going to be in and out for a while due to the effects of anesthesia," Dr. Mitchell explained, "and it's time you get back in the bed young lady," addressing Calleigh. She brought Horatio's hand to her lips and gently held it to her cheek as she turned and kissed his palm. The gesture brought a smile to Horatio's lips, even though he did not appear conscious at the moment. "I'll see you later Handsome."

The next afternoon, Horatio was released from ICU and transferred back to the room he and Calleigh were sharing. She was thrilled for him to be back with her and she slowly eased out of her bed and made the few steps to his side after they had gotten him settled.

"Hey Handsome…feeling better this today?"

He looked into her green eyes and replied smiling, "I am now that I'm with you." Horatio grimaced as he eased his body over and gradually turned over on his right side, then patted the bed beside him and asked, "Would you lay down with me Sweetheart?"

"Will you be comfortable with me in there with you?"

"You bet I will," he answered grinning.

She climbed into his bed and laid down on her left side facing him as he wrapped one arm around her shoulders, mindful of his IV line in that arm, while he used his other hand to tenderly touch her bandaged head with a sad expression. "I'm so sorry you were hurt Sweetheart. You have no idea how frightened I was when I saw Johnson shoot you…" he gulped and closed his eyes, then continued, "my heart completely stopped…I was terrified he had killed you right in front of me." Calleigh saw a tear escape down his cheek as he talked.

"Oh Handsome, I was never so glad to see you appear with your gun. I knew you would need help if he was going to be taken down without hurting Kyle."

Horatio just continued caressing her cheek and then asked, "How did you manage to free yourself?"

"He cuffed us to shelves holding all kinds of items and I spied a stiff wire on the shelf behind me that I thought would work to unlock my cuffs. Just took me some time to finally get my hands on it."

Horatio furrowed his brow, "You're a very brave lady…but I don't ever want to see you use yourself as a distraction again….you hear me? My heart couldn't take it." He sighed as he pulled her close and softly kissed her lips feeling pain in his left back as he raised his body up off the bed, stretching the incision, but was definitely worth enduring.

Kyle knocked on the door then stepped in and then saw his dad and Calleigh asleep in bed together and smiled as he whispered, "Alright Dad…way to go."

Later that afternoon, Calleigh was just coming out of the bathroom when someone knocked on the door to their room.

"Come in," she responded.

Detective Wilson and Chief Armstrong walked in and were surprised to see both Calleigh and Horatio sharing a room. Wilson thought to himself, man things must be laid back in Miami to have such a relationship with your ballistics expert…too bad we can't do this.

"Mark, Tom, how are things going?" Horatio sleepily greeted their visitors as he was just waking from a nap. With the arrival of visitors, Calleigh thought it might be best to get in her bed instead of Horatio's.

"Horatio," then Mark Wilson turned toward Calleigh, "Ma'am –just checking on how you were both doing."

"Miss Duquesne, I'm glad you were not injured worse than you are…I don't mind telling you a head wound scares me more than anything."

"Thank you Mark, I'm pretty tough to get rid of…ask Horatio," she grinned, but also noticed Horatio's solemn expression.

"We are both on the mend. Have you wrapped up the Johnson case?" Horatio asked inquisitively.

"Closed it this morning, but um, Horatio…we got word from a reliable source that the mob has taken an interest in you being here, specifically Tony "The Razor" Scarpello…seems he has noticed all the publicity about your involvement in the events at the hospital the other night."

Horatio suddenly looked serious and Calleigh noticed the change in his features. "How serious Mark?"

"A lot according to our source. You step on his toes?"

Horatio let out a grunt and looked at Mark, "Of course…but it's been a few years…why his sudden interest now?"

Mark shrugged, "Beats me Horatio…who knows how they think, but wanted to give you a heads up."

"Appreciate that Mark, and thanks for all your help with Johnson. By the way, how's Sergeant O'Brien doing?"

"He's going to make a full recovery…but I kinda doubt he'll come back to the job though, you know how it affects some to get shot that bad plus; I think his wife would leave him if he even thought about it. Shame too, he's a good man."

"It's difficult on the family Mark, I can understand. Just hate that it happened to him."

"Well, if it wasn't for you, we would have been attending his funeral."

"Horatio, given the new information, I can provide security outside your room and your son's while you are here," Tom offered.

"Thanks Tom, I know you're stretched with the small number of officers you have…if you could spare a man for my son, I'd appreciate it very much. Calleigh and I will be fine and hopefully in the next couple of days we'll be out of your hair."

"Can do Horatio, both of you take care and hope you can get back home soon," Tom answered.

"Let us know if we can help with anything Horatio. Will you need a lift to the airport?" Mark asked.

"You know, we just might," Horatio glanced over at Calleigh, "neither one of us will be allowed to drive for a while. Glad you thought about it. I'll let you know when we are released."

The two men took their leave and Horatio sat staring at the door after them.

Calleigh turned and asked, "Horatio…," causing him to jerk out of his thoughts and turn to look her way. "Didn't Tony Scarpello threaten you a couple of years ago for eliminating his drug operation with Columbia through the Port of Miami?"

**TBC….**


	14. Chapter 14

**A/N: Things appear to be falling into place for Horatio and Calleigh, but they are still on shaky ground concerning their relationship. I am glad so many readers seem to be enjoying my story; I hope I can continue to keep the story interesting for you. Just a heads up, Kyle is not out of the picture.**

**A Father's Heartache**

**Chapter 14**

Two days prior to his scheduled release, Horatio won the battle with Dr. Mitchell to be cleared home, and as soon as they finished signing all the forms, and saying their goodbyes and thanks for all the care, he and Calleigh were in their rental SUV with Detective Wilson driving them to the airport. Horatio had waited until it was safe for Calleigh to be discharged and could travel without causing her further harm, but the battle incurred when Dr. Mitchell adamantly opposed Horatio being released and only agreed after Horatio assured him he would contact Alexx Woods upon arriving home to be put under her care.

Mark Wilson walked with them to the security point bidding them safe travel. "Horatio, Calleigh it's been a pleasure working with you and I hope you both continue healing well. Let me know if I can ever help you."

"Thanks Mark, will do, you do the same. Take care," Horatio returned as they shook hands.

Calleigh hugged Mark and wished him well.

After takeoff, Calleigh leaned in toward Horatio, who had laid his head back against his seat with his eyes closed, "You feeling ok Handsome?"

"I'm ok Sweetheart…just resting."

"Where were Kyle and Sam heading after they left the hospital?"

"Kyle had a week before needing to report for discharge from active duty so, I told them to take the rental vehicle I had and have a little vacation…they deserve it. Kyle told me they wanted to drive up into northern Michigan…gave him one of my credit cards and asked him not to max it out," Horatio chuckled.

"That was a sweet thing to do for them Handsome."

Horatio was unusually quiet the rest of their flight home which caused Calleigh to worry if he actually did feel alright. _He would never admit it if he doesn't, especially after the run-in he had with the doctor to get an early release. I will make sure he calls Alexx, but I suspect she already knows._

After disembarking from the plane, they saw Frank and Alexx waiting to greet them. "H, you make it ok?" Frank asked his friend.

"Sure Frank, why?"

"Just wondering." Frank wasn't going to say anything, but he thought Horatio looked like he'd been through hell.

"Calleigh," Alexx greeted her old friend with a hug, "you ok Honey?"

"I'm fine Alexx…really, just a little headache now." Alexx looked at her with narrow eyes, "You haven't picked up Horatio's bad habits now, have you?"

Calleigh smiled, "Not that one anyway."

Alexx turned to Horatio and shook her head, "I know there's no point me asking how you are Horatio because you will just tell me fine regardless," she scolded as she gave him a warm hug, noticing he seemed to still be weak. Alexx thought, _I'm going to have to keep a close eye on you my friend, just as Leroy Mitchell warned me_.

"I'm ok Alexx…just tired is all," Horatio replied with a slight smile.

"Um-Hum, I expect you are my friend."

"C'mon let's get you guys home and settled," Frank barked.

As they pulled out of the airport with Frank driving, he turned his head far enough to talk to Horatio and Calleigh on the back seat, "I'll drop you at your place first Cal, since we will go near it on the way to Horatio's."

"Calleigh is going to my house Frank," Horatio responded with a serious look.

Frank glanced at Horatio in the rearview mirror and stammered, "Uh, sure H, anything you say." Calleigh giggled and squeezed Horatio's hand. Sitting in the front passenger seat, Alexx just thought to herself and smiled, _seems these two finally acted on the feelings they've had toward each other for so long…never thought I'd see the day. At least in one way, Chicago was good for them._

Frank brought their luggage in and set the bags down in the master bedroom while Alexx walked between both Calleigh and Horatio, just in case one of them needed assistance.

"Would either of you mind lying down in the same bed so I can do an examination on you both? It would save me some steps," Alexx smiled as she waited for a reply.

"No problem Alexx," Calleigh answered as she glanced over at Horatio and saw a smile spreading on his face.

Alexx smiled and let out a small grunt, commenting under her breath, "Didn't think you would."

Alexx checked Calleigh first as they were both stretched out on Horatio's king-sized bed, and then began Horatio's exam. She noticed how badly he winced when she asked him to roll over on his right side so she could look at his incision.

"You know you would have been better off to have stayed in the hospital a couple more days Horatio."

"Don't you start on me Alexx," he growled, "I can rest better at home besides Leroy gave me some pain medicine to take if I need it."

"Yeah, but the problem with that is who is going to make you take it?"

Calleigh smiled as she answered Alexx's question, "That's my job Alexx." The glare Horatio gave her didn't go unnoticed and Calleigh responded by raising one eyebrow, giving him a serious look before moving closer, then planting a peck on his cheek.

Frank had to bite his inner jaw to keep from snickering at the two of them thinking, _Horatio my friend, I think you have finally met your match._

Alexx told them that there was some food in the refrigerator she and Natalia had gathered, along with Frank's help, in bringing it to his house. Horatio had given Frank a key to his house after moving in, just in case of an emergency.

"Natalia took food over to Calleigh's place too…she will probably bring it over here later this evening after shift ends when I tell her that you are both staying together," Alexx informed them.

"That was very thoughtful of all of you, thank you," Horatio smiled at his dear friends.

"Don't get up, we'll let ourselves out. Call if y'all need anything H," Frank said as he looked at them both and smiled. "Check on you both later."

"Thought they'd never leave," Horatio growled as he pulled Calleigh close and softly began kissing her neck, before moving to her lips. After a few minutes of tender kisses and stroking, they both realized they had better stop before carrying their actions too far, mindful of his injury.

"One day soon Sweetheart, I promise," Horatio breathlessly whispered.

"Hungry?" He asked.

Exactly at that moment, Calleigh's stomach answered for her which caused them both to laugh, but Horatio stopped laughing feeling the jolt of pain from his broken ribs and moaned as he clutched his left side.

"We should be careful Handsome and not make you laugh until you completely heal."

"Probably…would be better," he replied as a weak smile came to his face.

Recovered, they made their way to the kitchen and Horatio suggested they move outside to eat their lunch so they could enjoy some fresh air since they'd been cooped up for days in a hospital. Taking the tray of food and Calleigh the glasses of sweet iced tea, he led her through the doors and out onto the beautiful patio, that looked out onto the beach and the ocean beyond. They sat down beside each other at a table with their sandwiches, salads and drinks under a large umbrella.

"Horatio, you have a beautiful home, so peaceful and I _absolutely love _this patio and the view…"

"Haven't you been to my house before?" He inquired, looking at her puzzled.

"Just once, when you had that bad case of flu a few years ago, I brought some case files by that you requested when you began feeling better."

Horatio looked down at his plate, then slowly brought his head up and shyly smiled at her. _Why I didn't lock the doors and keep you here I'll never understand, _he thought_._

After lunch, Calleigh made Horatio take his pain medication, ignoring his insistence of feeling fine, moved over to a large chaise lounge to rest and to watch the waves crashing onto shore. Calleigh noticed that he was having difficulty getting comfortable on his back and suggested they swap places so he could rest on his right side.

Snuggling together and exchanging tender kisses, she asked, "Would you mind me asking you something?"

"Not at all Sweetheart, what do you want to know?"

"I have often wondered why you sold your condo and bought this house when it's only you living here?"

She observed Horatio's eyes suddenly looked distant as he stared over her shoulder toward the palm trees just off the patio.

"Umm…," he said as he brought his eyes back to hers noticing she was patiently waiting for his answer.

"Hey…that's alright Horatio, you don't have to answer that…is just me being nosy - - it's none of my business."

"It has everything to do with you Sweetheart," he quickly answered.

Calleigh looked perplexed with that statement and searched his eyes before he began explaining.

He chuckled then drew serious, "Calleigh, after Marisol and I married, she wanted to have children. We lived in my condo and were planning to buy a house, but…" he trailed off with a vacant look in his eyes. "Um, we never got that chance," he finally was able to finish. Calleigh reached out and tenderly cupped his face with her hand.

"After she was murdered, it didn't take me long to realize that I just had to get out of that condo we had shared, even though she had only lived there for a short time, it just had too many memories. I've always dreamed of having a family one day, but had come to the conclusion it was just not meant for me to see that dream come true."

He stared deep into Calleigh's green eyes for a few minutes before he could begin revealing the real reason why he went on and bought a house.

"I've never admitted this to anyone Sweetheart, and it makes a part of me feel terrible to admit it now, but I have to…Calleigh, I…I never stopped loving you the entire time I was with Marisol, but please believe me, I never would have hurt Marisol by acting on my feelings for you. I cared about her; I really did have feelings for her…but…. " he closed his eyes and couldn't finish.

Calleigh drew in a sharp breath, "Oh, Horatio."

"After she died, I felt so ashamed of myself for the feelings I had for you, but at the same time, I hoped one day down the road during our lifetime, you and I would have a chance…oh please don't think badly of me Calleigh, I can't control what my heart has felt for you for so long…you just always seemed out of reach to me." He saw her tears begin to roll down her cheeks and began to tenderly wipe them away with his hand.

"I bought this house hoping one day…one day you would love me too and we could get married and have children. I had just about given up on that dream ever being possible as I watched you date those other men…then Eric, that hurt me the worst…until that day when I woke up in the hospital last year and yours was the first face I saw, for the first time I noticed love in your eyes and it gave me hope. Then when you came to Chicago…I knew I had to find out if you felt something for me, something more than friendship with an old man carrying a lot of emotional baggage."

Calleigh finally gathered her voice and was able to whisper, "Oh Handsome, I had no idea you felt this way toward me all these years. I mean we flirted, but I just didn't think you were really interested in me. My past relationships never worked out because they weren't you…I have loved you for so long. I have never been as scared in my entire life as I was last year when I thought I had lost you after being shot by that scumbag. I wanted to tell you how much I loved you when you woke up, but was just too afraid you didn't feel the same. Don't you ever think of yourself as old, you even have time for a child or two," she smiled, "and as for emotional baggage, we all have some," closing the little bit of distance between them she kissed his lips so sweetly.

Horatio pulled her into a hug, "Please don't think badly of me Calleigh after what I told you."

"I don't Horatio…I understand. I know the character and integrity you possess would never have allowed you to do anything but to stay with Marisol. I just regret never having told you of my feelings. I was so jealous and hurt at first when you announced that you and Marisol were getting married, but as I got to know her, I cherished her un-daunting spirit, it was infectious. Then I could see why you cared so much for her."

"I'm so sorry Calleigh, I never intended to hurt you…I love you too much. I promise you I will never knowingly hurt you Sweetheart."

He studied her face as he gently ran his hand through her hair before asking, "Calleigh, one day…would you consider marrying me?"

Calleigh's tears began flowing again and she couldn't hold back the sobs. "Calleigh, Sweetheart…that's ok, I understand…."

Calleigh began shaking her head no until she could finally answer, "Horatio, I would love to marry you…I love you. I just never dreamed I'd ever hear you ask me." Horatio's sadness immediately turned to elation upon hearing her answer.

He quickly pulled himself up on his elbow, ignoring the pain in his back and pulled her underneath his chest then captured her lips in a searing kiss, only stopping when they both needed air, then he began kissing away her tears.

"When I can drive again…our first outing will be to Mankle's Jewelry store, I want you to pick out the most beautiful engagement ring they have Sweetheart," he said whispering as he continued his assault of warm, tender kisses down her neck, pushing open her blouse with his mouth, revealing more soft, tender skin for his pleasure.

"Horatio…we need to slow…slow, ohhhh that feels wonderful…Handsome…" All of a sudden, Horatio jerked forward from the blow and the searing pain that shot up his back, he couldn't withhold his reaction to the fiery sensation as he moaned loudly and gasped as he collapsed onto Calleigh causing her to exhale sharply with his weight falling hard on her chest.

Through the fog of pain, Horatio realized he may have hurt Calleigh and with what strength he had, rolled off onto the chaise in order to get his weight off of her then screamed out with even more pain when his back made contact with the lounge chair. He tried to open his eyes to see what hit him, but the pain wouldn't allow him to focus.

Calleigh saw the man standing beside them as he snarled, "This is just the beginning of pain for you Lieutenant Caine," before sprinting off down the beach out of sight. Calleigh leaped off the chaise and began to run after him, but the pressure in her head became too great to continue.

Turning and swiftly walking back, "HORATIO…," Calleigh shrieked as she reached him, she got on her knees beside him as she leaned over attempting to comfort him. "Handsome…talk to me." She watched as his face contorted with pain and then he passed out.

**TBC…**


	15. Chapter 15

**A Father's Heartache**

**Chapter 15**

Horatio was slowly waking up as he heard voices around him when a jolt of pain hit his back causing him to moan. He realized he was being carried by two men somewhere, but was more concerned whether Calleigh was alright. The last thing he remembered was kissing her in the chaise lounge out on the patio…then just blinding pain, then suddenly he heard her voice giving instructions to someone.

"Be careful with him…gently put him down on the bed on his right side," she told Frank and Eric.

Horatio moaned loudly as his body made contact with the bed. _Thank God, Calleigh sounds like she is ok, _he thought as relief swept through his mind.

"Horatio doesn't look too good Calleigh, were you able to reach Alexx?" Frank inquired.

"She's on her way…I'm just glad this was her day off or I'd have to go on and call an ambulance even though Horatio wouldn't have liked that at all."

"No…ambulance," Horatio rasped, "No hospital…just…let…me rest." Eric just shook his head and placed his hand on Horatio's shoulder.

"H you may need more help than that," Eric interjected.

"NO…" Horatio weakly attempted to shout as loud as he could, then moaned deeply and lost consciousness again.

Alexx rushed into the bedroom with her medical bag after Natalia had met her at the door and let her in the house.

"Calleigh, what happened to him?" Alexx questioned as her hands were quickly pulling Horatio's shirt up to take a look at his incision.

"Oh Alexx, I'm so glad you are here…we were out on the patio after finishing our lunch, just relaxing in a chaise lounge when a man walked up, undetected by us and kicked Horatio in his back, then ran off after making a threat…that this was just the beginning."

"That's all this man needed. Let's have a look Sugar," Alexx tenderly said as she slowly pulled the bandage off covering Horatio's incision, noticing some blood on the pad.

"The incision has opened slightly, but as I look closer, it is not too bad. It looks like it is the very outer stitches that have been affected so I will keep an eye on that then after I clean the area I will go ahead and put the antibiotic ointment on for the evening." After Alexx finished applying the ointment, she called for assistance, "Calleigh, I need you to hold the new bandage by the corner there while I peel the covering off."

Frank and Eric stood by nervously watching, hoping Horatio was going to be ok.

After Alexx was through redressing the wound and checking Horatio's vitals, she turned to see Frank and Eric standing and staring with worried expressions as their friend was lying helpless in the bed…a sight that was rarely seen.

"I want you to explain to me how you are going to find this hoodlum by just standing around in here?"

"You…heard…the lady," Horatio managed to say weakly, "get to…work."

Alexx quickly turned around, astonished that Horatio was conscious and talking.

"Sugar, how are you feeling?" she asked her friend with a concerned expression.

"Been better…you think…I'm going to make it?" he chuckled slightly.

"I've never seen the day when you hadn't Sugar," Alexx smiled in relief.

"Hey Handsome…you're going to be ok. Just rest," Calleigh cooed as she tenderly stroked through his hair as she sat on the bed beside him.

Frank and Eric were relieved to hear their friend talking and knew he was in good hands.

"Well don't just stand there Delko, let's go check to see if the others have found anything. Horatio you do as these ladies tell you, we're going to track this son of a bitch down and bring him in."

"Thank you," Horatio weakly replied.

"Calleigh, I'm going to stay with Horatio through the rest of today and through the night, why don't you let one of the team take you by your place and get things you may need and come back later."

"Alexx don't you need to be home with Henry on your day off?"

"Henry will be fine and if he needs me for anything, he knows where I am. Go and take care of things."

"She's right, Sweetheart…be careful."

After a little more than a week had gone by, Horatio was moving around the house and taking short walks down the beach under the watchful eye of an officer assigned to guard the rear of his house and of course, Calleigh was always with him, armed with her Colt .45 on her hip. She was determined that what happened on the patio that afternoon would never happen again. Two other officers were part of the security in place around the house at all times, under direct orders of the chief.

Via his phone, Horatio had started handling problems at the lab that required his insight and Eric had been coming by quite often to keep him abridged of the goings on at the lab. Captain Morales was doing an excellent job filling in for him, just as he knew he would, but at times, his team needed their lieutenant's unique view on cases.

"Kyle is being discharged tomorrow isn't he?" Calleigh asked as she and Horatio strolled with arms around each other down the beach enjoying the warm morning sun and cool breeze blowing off the Atlantic Ocean.

"He is Sweetheart he'll be a civilian again and not soon enough for me. Then he turns around and begins classes next week beginning the short term for now, and later will be taking a full load of courses in the spring." Horatio laughed and exclaimed, "The young man is really growing up on me and thankfully in the right direction with Sam's help."

"Along with your help too Handsome, Kyle has turned into a nice young man," she replied smiling as she brushed his cheek lightly with her hand. "I am glad he found her, she is so good for him…plus, it was nice that he was able to get his old job back in the morgue to give him some extra money, even if it is part-time, and the fact you're helping him out by paying the rent on an apartment goes a long way in support. Just how did you manage to find an apartment for him so quick?" Calleigh asked as she tightened her hold around Horatio's waist as they walked.

"Arghh," Horatio moaned and abruptly stopped, "Sweetheart…." He gasped.

"Oh I am so sorry Horatio…you are doing so much better, I just forget about your back."

"That's…that's ok Calleigh," Horatio softly answered as he was slowing his breathing down from his initial reaction. I have a good realtor that pulled the perfect apartment out of the magic hat. Now, how…about we go on that errand we talked about over a week ago?"

Calleigh brightened, "Really? Are you sure you feel like going?" she asked as she reached up and brushed his hair back out of his face.

"I'm very sure Sweetheart then I will treat you to lunch, your choice. Let's head back to the house so I can get out of these sweats and into something more appropriate for buying an engagement ring," Horatio smiled as he leaned over and kissed her softly on her cheek.

After looking at most of the store's inventory, Calleigh found the one ring she knew she could wear a lifetime. It was the most beautiful ring she had ever seen in her life, but was shocked when she turned the price tag over that gave the cost for the stunning diamond and emeralds.

Horatio was even awestruck when he saw it, "Sweetheart this is the ring. I see the elation in your eyes that I hoped I would see when you found the right one."

Calleigh leaned over and whispered in his ear, "Handsome I do love this ring, but it's way too expensive…you don't need to spend that much on me."

"Sweetheart, it doesn't matter the cost…."

"HORATIO," noticing she had gotten the clerk's attention from down the counter she lowered her voice, "Horatio it costs $8,500!" she whispered into his ear.

He tilted his head to the side and then looked dumfounded at her concern, "Cost doesn't matter…if it's the ring you want, then it's the ring I want for you and I think it is beautiful, a beautiful ring for my beautiful lady," and smiled so lovingly toward her she gave up her protest, but wondered how he could spend so much money on something like this, considering his salary.

As they walked to his car, Calleigh couldn't keep her eyes off of Horatio.

"When do I get to wear my ring?" she teased.

"After I ask the all-important question and slip it onto your finger in a romantic setting," he answered back, grinning at her eager anticipation.

As he opened and held her door she took the opportunity to throw her arms around his neck and kiss him on the lips right on the sidewalk in front of people walking by, taking Horatio completely by surprise.

"Sweetheart," he uttered softly, "um, Calleigh we are drawing attention from people around."

"Let them look…it doesn't matter to me," with those words Horatio gave her a searing kiss as he hugged her close. Breaking the kiss, he glanced down the sidewalk and saw a young man approaching them and realized by the expression on his face he was moving toward them like he was on an urgent mission.

"Calleigh…," then Horatio pushed her down into the car seat, pushed the lock down on her door and shut it, then looked back toward the young man and saw he had pulled a gun from inside his coat.

Calleigh was trying to overcome the sudden action by Horatio and then heard him shout at someone and then she saw him draw his gun.

"MDPD, drop your weapon now!" Horatio shouted as he brought his gun up to eye level pointing it toward the young man. People on the sidewalk began screaming and running, especially when Horatio shouted for everyone to get down as the young man quickly took a shooting stance and fired as Horatio squeezed off a shot hitting the man in his shoulder. The young man dropped to the pavement in pain, but quickly jumped to his feet and began running back the way he had come and Horatio began running after him shouting for him to stop. Calleigh was out of the car with her gun drawn and began shouting for Horatio to come back.

Horatio ran even though his injury was screaming for him to stop, as they rounded the next corner he continued the chase until Horatio observed the man jumping into a waiting car, it was a two door gray Ford sedan and as it sped away he made out the Florida plates, 956 YFD. Horatio then fired two shots at the back of the car as it was disappearing down the street. As he desperately tried to catch his breath, he pulled out his cell and hit the button for Eric,

"Eric…um…" still breathing hard, Horatio had to wait before he could continue.

"H, are you ok? Talk to me H…what's going on?"

Horatio thought he could finish what he needed to relay, "Eric, a young man…approached Calleigh and I outside a store a few…minutes ago, shots fired…he ran, got in a car…plates, 956 YFD…bring kits down…evidence."

"H, either of you hit?" Eric asked as fear gripped him as he heard Horatio tell him shots were fired.

"No…we're both…ok."

Horatio gave him the address and Eric said they'd be right down.

"HORATIO, are you ok?" Calleigh asked as she reached him and grasped his arm.

"I'm good…Sweetheart…just trying…to catch my…breath between pain."

"What were you thinking about, running after that man in the condition you're in." Calleigh screamed at him.

Horatio quickly raised his head as he was leaning against the wall of a store and looked at her baffled for a moment before answering, "Sweetheart, I'm tired of being kicked and shot at, but more importantly, putting you in danger just by being near me."

"Well it certainly won't do me any good if you get yourself killed!"

Horatio grimaced in pain as he pushed away from the wall and began walking back to the scene of the shooting to make sure any evidence that was there would not be disturbed. _Damn, _he thought, _this is not how I had planned for our day to go._ Calleigh silently walked back with him, just shaking her head from time to time allowing anger toward Horatio to build inside her because he chased down a suspect alone, not allowing her to back him up.

As they approached the scene they saw two uniform police officers cordoning off the area with crime tape and were thankful for their quick action.

"Lieutenant, did you catch up with the shooter?" One of the officers inquired.

"No, he had a car waiting for him, but I'm grateful for your quick thinking of protecting the evidence." Horatio then glanced over and watched as Calleigh was getting in his car and shutting the door a little harder than normal.

Horatio was down on one knee examining a shell left by the shooter when Frank and Eric screeched to a stop at the curb near him. Both men ran to Horatio asking, just to make sure,

"You really ok H?" Eric blared as he stopped close to his friend. "Where's Calleigh…is she ok?"

"We are still both ok Eric," Horatio curtly answered, agitated about having to verify his and Calleigh's status again with the young Cuban.

"Have you ever seen a casing marked like this before?" Horatio asked as he stood with the casing on the end of his pen.

Eric snapped on a pair of gloves and took the casing to examine it closer. "I haven't H, but I bet Calleigh might be able to tell us what gun fires this..." Eric turned in all directions looking for the blonde ballistic expert. "Where is she?"

"She's sulking right now over in my car."

Eric looked at the figure sitting in the passenger seat and then turned back to Horatio asking, "What has got her in a foul mood?"

Horatio smiled and grunted, "Not what, _who_…and I'm afraid I'm the culprit."

Eric tensed as he looked at the car and replied, "Think I'll just take this in to the lab, maybe Scott will be able to tell us what gun fired this round."

"Wise decision brother," Horatio commented.

"Frank, here's my gun, you'll need it for IAB, I fired one shot hitting the perp and two more at the backend of the car as it sped away. If the car's found, the right taillight should be shattered. I will be down later to give my statement, right now I have a very pressing matter to attend to, if you don't mind."

"What will you use for protection H if I take your weapon?"

Horatio smiled and turned his head toward his car answering Frank's question, "I have a very angry and capable bodyguard at the moment and if anyone should bother us, I would probably feel very sorry for them."

Frank chuckled and replied, "I hear ya H…be careful approaching your protection."

"Always my friend, always," Horatio softly answered as he walked away toward his car.

Horatio eased as gently as he could into the driver's seat of his car, stealing a glance at Calleigh who stared straight ahead, not acknowledging his presence. He knew he had to do something to regain the happiness for the rest of their special day. Not venturing to try to goad her into speaking to him, he just started driving deciding that his special, secluded spot was necessary at the moment to get everything back on an even keel.

After he turned onto the deserted dirt road, he noticed Calleigh looking a little apprehensive about the area he was taking them to, but knew she would love the spot that was his, known only to him. It was a deserted stretch of beach, south of most of the population of Miami and that is what had always appealed to him. It was a place where he could escape, if only for a short time, the pressures in his life. Now, he wanted to share it with the woman he deeply loved.

When he stopped the car and turned off the engine, he took out his cell phone and turned it off, something he never did. Calleigh noticed this and finally spoke,

"This doesn't look much like a 4-star restaurant or even a 1-star for that matter. I thought you wanted to take me to lunch."

"I do, but I think we need to talk first." Horatio got out of his car and walked around to her side and opened the door, taking her hand as she went to stand up.

"Come with me Sweetheart, please?" She kept her hand in his as they walked toward the ocean.

"I love to come to this place…I can think here in the quiet solitude. No city noise, sirens, horns and the like, just the waves rushing to shore and seagulls fishing for a meal. After dark, a school of porpoises sometimes feed just off shore…listening to their calls in the dark is so unbelievably relaxing."

Calleigh was shocked and it reflected in her voice, "You…you come here at night by yourself?"

Horatio smiled, "Sometimes." Calleigh visibly shuttered.

Horatio stopped momentarily and turned and looked toward Calleigh, "You know…you're the only person I have ever brought here." Calleigh looked deep into his eyes then turned her eyes back toward the waves. Horatio stepped closer and put his arm around her shoulders.

"C'mon over here and sit with me…please Sweetheart?" Calleigh stepped out of his hold and wrapped her arms around herself and tensed when she felt his hand touch her lower back lightly to persuade her to move. She hesitated, but finally began walking with him over to an old, weathered bench under a palm tree.

Horatio let Calleigh sit first before he sat down beside her. He looked down as he fiddled with his sunglasses, contemplating what he needed to say.

"Sweetheart," Horatio began softly, "I'm sorry I pushed you down into the car. I…I…know it must have startled you, but it was the quickest way I knew to get you out of the line of fire. I saw the man walking toward us, and realized you could not see the danger approaching behind your back…and well, we were caught off guard, thinking only about our future together." Horatio gulped uncomfortably and winced as he attempted to push down the pain that was mainly coming from his heart.

"Our future is what was foremost in my mind…our future, _together._ Suddenly, all I could think about was when Johnson shot you and I thought I had lost you forever. I couldn't believe it was potentially happening again…" turning, and tilting his head as he looked into her eyes that he suddenly noticed were brimming with tears, he continued, "Calleigh, I can't ever lose you…I…wouldn't survive without you."

Calleigh's tears began flowing non-stop as she heard his last words. "I was so angry with you Horatio for putting yourself in danger for me. Do you have any idea how that makes me feel? I'll tell you in one word, TERRIFIED!"

Horatio hung his head, then rose back up and looked into her eyes, "Calleigh, it's just in my nature to protect those I love and hold dear. It's automatic. I can't _not_ protect you Calleigh. I know you can handle yourself and when I'm not able to be with you, and I'm grateful that you can, but Sweetheart…"

She quickly turned her head and looked into his soft blue eyes…,"I'm scared something will happen to you as well you know. You take so many chances…always out in front…always protecting someone including your team and not the least bit concerned about your own safety."

Horatio quickly responded, "Believe it or not Sweetheart, ever since you told me that you love me I have been more cautious than I've ever been in my career. I have too much to live for now…I'm not going to take unnecessary chances…not anymore."

Calleigh turned and threw herself into Horatio's arms and held onto him as if she were drowning and sobbed into his chest. Horatio slowly got to his feet pulling Calleigh up with him in his arms and whispered as a tear made its way down his cheek,

"Oh Calleigh," he softly whispered, "We are going to be alright…we're going to be alright. We'll just have to take one day at a time…one day at a time Sweetheart and enjoy every minute we have together."

**TBC…**


	16. Chapter 16

**A/N: Courtesy of Isaac, I've had time to finish this chapter…praying for those experiencing his devastation. Slowly building to more suspense with this story! Hang on!**

**A Father's Heartache**

**Chapter 16**

In the shade of the gently swaying palm tree as it caught the breeze blowing off of the blue-green water, Horatio and Calleigh stood with their arms tight around each other as he was gently trying to calm her crying, but was having difficulty keeping his own emotions in check.

"Calleigh, Sweetheart…shhh," he softly whispered into her right ear. "I'm sorry, I don't mean to upset you, I love you." With his tender words, Calleigh's sobs quieted a little and she pushed back from Horatio's chest and turned away from him, somewhat embarrassed by her breakdown in front of him. She took a couple of steps as she attempted to wipe her face clean of tears.

Then she heard the low, velvet rumble of his voice as he pleaded, "Calleigh…turn around, _please._" She hesitated for just a moment before slowly turning and suddenly gasped as her hand flew up to cover her mouth that was open in shock. Horatio was down on one knee in the sand, holding his left hand out to her as his right hand was closed. Moving in a robotic like fashion, she reached for his outstretched hand and grasped it, holding onto it to steady herself.

"I wanted this moment to happen during the most romantic setting I could create, but I don't think there could be a better time than now. Calleigh Marie Duquesne, will you marry me?" Horatio asked as he smiled lovingly up into her green eyes with a hint of apprehensiveness reflected in his questioning blue eyes as he held the beautiful ring in his right hand in front of her.

Calleigh's tears began flowing again as she softly whispered, "Yes…oh yes," Horatio let out a sigh of relief, realizing he unconsciously had been holding his breath waiting for her answer. He slipped the ring onto her finger as she looked deep into his eyes responding,

"I love you Horatio Caine…I love you so much" and before he could answer she abruptly fell to her knees, pushing him backwards, landing with a thud onto the sand on his back with Calleigh on his chest.

"ARGHHH…"

The pain was like an electric shock, shooting up from his ribs and he couldn't contain the involuntary groan and sharp intake of breath and his desperate struggle for more air as he rolled to his right causing Calleigh to fall into the sand beside him as he gripped his left side gasping loudly.

"HORATIO…I'm so sorry. Horatio…" Calleigh shouted frantically as she scrambled to sit up to help him. She slipped her hand under his face, raising his head up slightly placing it in her lap as he continued gasping for breath. Finally she could detect his breathing easing as he gingerly rolled over on his back and opened his eyes that reflected both pain and tenderness as he looked deep into her eyes trying to calm her saying,

"No…worries…Sweetheart. I…love you too…the pain…the pain was worth your affection," he was able to grin.

"Oh Handsome, you just overwhelmed me taking me completely off-guard and I acted without thinking. Are you feeling better?" She asked as she lightly stroked his hair back off his forehead, then trailed her fingers down the side of his face, softly massaging his painful expression away.

"I'm…fine. Your touch is wonderful Sweetheart…umm, please don't stop."

After a few minutes she began, "Handsome…."

Horatio moved suddenly, carefully pulling himself up to sitting position, placing his hand behind Calleigh's head easing her down onto the sand, then moving his body on top of hers he leaned in and gave her a deep passionate kiss as his tongue entered her mouth, driving deep enjoying the mixture of the remnants of her salty tears and the sweet taste of her love. She responded by plunging her tongue into his mouth continually swapping dominance.

Finally breaking for air he whispered, "You can bowl me over anytime Sweetheart. You've been doing it figuratively for years…" Then he took her lips with his again for another searing kiss. They held each other for some time, enjoying sweet kisses and conversation about their future together, savoring the solitude of their surroundings before Horatio reluctantly reminded her,

"As much as I would love to stay here with you, we'd better be finding us some late lunch before I go by the lab to give my statement on the shooting to IAB, Sweetheart." Horatio noticed the crestfallen expression on her face as he added, "What about…we continue this when we get home…hmm?"

Calleigh flashed her brilliant smile and answered, "That sounds wonderful…I believe you feel 'up' to it now Handsome," and giggled as he smiled at her playful response.

"Umm-hmmm," he growled in a deep rumble, responding to her statement as he trailed moist kisses down her neck onto her bare chest which her blouse exposed so temptingly.

All through their lunch, Calleigh couldn't keep her eyes off of Horatio, nor her foot that she had slipped out of her sandal, tenderly running it up his leg and to the inside of his thigh under the table. Each time her foot moved higher, he grabbed it and began tickling her arch causing her to quickly pull it down out of his reach.

"For some reason, I thought you would be admiring your ring more than me," Horatio grinned as he laughed watching the playful expression spread across her face.

"Not on your life mister…I love my ring, but it doesn't come close in comparison to the giver," she smiled as he held her hand, tenderly rubbing the back of it as he gazed into her eyes.

"Nothing in the world compares to your beauty Sweetheart. As impossible as it may seem, you're even more beautiful when you are happy, I want so much to make you happy for the rest of my life."

"Ohh Handsome, you make me deliriously happy!" She answered lightheartedly. Horatio leaned closer and gave her a light kiss on her lips.

As he gazed into her beautiful green eyes, he couldn't help but wonder if he had handed her a death sentence when he gave her that ring_._ He shook his head and looked down.

Calleigh noticed Horatio's sudden change in his demeanor and asked, "Is something wrong Handsome…are you in pain?"

Horatio snapped out of his thoughts and quickly shook his head and answered attempting to smile, "No Sweetheart, I'm fine…really, couldn't be better." Calleigh still wondered what changed him.

The loving couple had caught the attention of most of the other customers who were sitting close around, but not as much as the two men who sat a distance away at another table. They had been discreetly following the couple all day, even when they were secluded in Horatio's secret place.

One of the men turned to the other and grumbled in Brazilian Portuguese, "Quanto tempo nós temos que vê-los?" (How long do we have to watch them?)

The large man sitting at the table with him gruffly answered, "Até que seja indicado o contrário." (Until we are told otherwise.)

As Horatio and Calleigh exited his car in the garage of the Miami-Dade Police Headquarters he took her hand and asked, "Would you go with me to the Chief's office first before we go to the lab?"

"Sure," Calleigh answered looking puzzled. "Why are you going by to see the Chief?"

Horatio just smiled and tightened his grip on her hand as he opened the door leading inside to the elevators. As they rode the elevator to the top floor, Calleigh studied his face and detected he was keeping something from her, but decided to play along.

The Chief's secretary buzzed the Chief and told him Lieutenant Caine and CSI Duquesne had arrived. She told them to go on in he was waiting for them.

"Chief Burton," Horatio said as he crossed the room with his right hand outstretched to shake the big man's hand while he still held Calleigh's hand with his left.

"So glad to see you and Calleigh, Lieutenant" as the Chief warmly greeted them shaking Horatio's hand and giving Calleigh a friendly hug.

"Please have a seat won't you," he gestured toward the sitting area off to the side of his desk.

"How are you feeling Calleigh?" the Chief inquired.

"I'm fine Chief and looking forward to getting back to work as soon as Alexx clears me to return."

"That is great to hear. Horatio? How are you doing in your recovery? I take it that it will be a while yet before you are released from Dr. Woods' care?"

"I'm good Tom. Hopefully I can convince Alexx to release me soon. I too need to get back to the lab."

"Don't push it Horatio. I know you want to go after Scarpella, thinking he is behind these attacks, but I want you healthy, do you understand me? By the way, I've heard from the FBI that they suspicion Scarpella has joined with the Brazilian Mafia in trafficking weapons between Miami and Rio."

Horatio looked away from his gaze for a moment, knowing that information complicated things. The Chief noticed Horatio's reaction to the news and knew he was going to have to keep an eye on him.

"I called you both here to tell you about a change to the CSI lab that will be a very positive one, I think." Horatio couldn't help but grin as he turned to look at Calleigh.

"The Commissioner and I have made the decision to appoint a new Lieutenant for the lab."

The news shocked Calleigh and she quickly snapped her head around to look at Horatio, puzzled that he didn't seem fazed by the news, in fact he looked very happy.

"Calleigh, I have the results of the Lieutenant's exam you took a couple of years ago and I am very impressed with your score." Calleigh looked wide-eyed at the Chief as he continued. "I am prepared to offer you the promotion and the position to be co-supervisor of the crime lab at the rank of Lieutenant. Are you interested?"

She sat frozen in her chair wondering if she heard him correctly. Stammering she answered, "Me...You're offering me the promotion?"

"Yes my dear, I am. Of course Horatio's only influence on the decision made by myself and the Commissioner was his positive recommendation based on your work record and your ability to supervise others. The main purpose of making this change is to allow a Lieutenant to remain in the lab almost full-time, while the other is out in the field handling call-outs."

Calleigh turned and looked at Horatio's beaming face and then back at the Chief's warm smile and answered, "I...I am overwhelmed by this offer, and I will do my best in the position of sharing the supervisory duties with Lieutenant Caine."

"Great! Congratulations," the Chief leaned over and squeezed her hand, "I know the lab will continue to operate at the top with both of you overseeing it." The Chief reached down on the table beside him as he took a brand new badge out of a small box and handed it to Horatio.

"Horatio, I'll give you the honor to present this gold shield to your new co-supervisor."

After they stood, Horatio turned toward her and softly began, "Calleigh, they couldn't have picked a better person for the position," He then placed the gold badge in her hand and covered it, and her hand with his as he smiled then leaned over and kissed her on the cheek. "I am honored to share supervisory duties with you." Calleigh began to cry and laugh at the same time.

"This is such a shock...I can't believe it! Thank you for placing your confidence in me Chief," then looked up into Horatio's sparkling blue eyes saying, "and thank you Horatio for helping to make this come true." Calleigh and Horatio stood for several moments holding each other's gaze as Horatio continued to hold her hand containing the new gold shield.

"Ahem," the Chief cleared his throat, "I also understand congratulations are in order for you two as I notice a beautiful ring on your left hand Calleigh."

Calleigh flashed a look of shock at Horatio's grinning expression and stammered low, thinking only Horatio would hear her, "The Chief knows our plans?"

Before Horatio could reply, the Chief answered, "Horatio cleared the matter with me when I spoke with him in Chicago. Making his intentions known to me, gave me the push to begin the process of obtaining approval for this change in the lab. I knew something would have to change to allow for your union, for as you know, there would have been no way the two of you could have had a relationship as long as Horatio was your superior."

"Your promotion clears the way for us to act on our plans Sweetheart," Horatio added as he tilted his head and smiled sweetly at a shocked Calleigh.

Horatio then turned back to the Chief and began, "Thank you Tom, we will leave and let you get back to your work now, as I need to go down and give my statement on the shooting I was involved in this morning."

"Very well, let me know if you encounter any problems with that incident Horatio and congratulations to both of you," as he shook Horatio's hand. "Oh and please let me know when the ceremony will take place."

"We certainly will Tom," Horatio smiled and shook his hand.

Horatio and Calleigh walked hand in hand toward the elevator to go down to the lab. As the elevator descended, Horatio reached over and pushed the stop button, then turned and smiled at Calleigh asking sweetly,

"May I clip your gold shield to your waist, Beautiful?"

"By all means, Handsome," answering him with a devilish smile.

After clipping the shield to the waist of her slacks, he gathered her into his arms and gave her a deep, passionate kiss.

"I've never kissed a co-supervisor before…but I love how it feels with you," he growled in a deep, sexy voice.

"I say we make it a policy that we do this often Handsome."

"Umm, I love your first decision as supervisor," he whispered as he assaulted her neck with warm, moist kisses hearing her moan.

After a few minutes, Horatio punched the button to restart their descent to the lab, while he kept his arms wrapped around Calleigh.

"I hope this won't take long, we need to go back to the house as soon as we can to continue our 'private celebration'."

Calleigh's response was to tug on his ear lobe gently with her teeth then kiss him along his jawline whispering, "I love your strategy Lieutenant," while her arms stayed wrapped around his waist.

_Ding_. The elevator announced their arrival at the lab as he dropped one of his arms from around her then whispered, "Calleigh, Sweetheart…we're at the lab." Hoping she would resume a more professional posture before the door opened, but she didn't react quickly enough as the door slid open and they were greeted by a surprised Eric and Natalia.

"Uh, hi Cal and H," Eric stuttered uncomfortably looking away from the couple as Natalia stood frozen with a huge grin on her face.

"Well, it's good to see the two of you looking so much better," Natalia finally chuckled with a very puzzled expression.

Horatio's face turned red as Calleigh giggled and answered, "Heyyy, how is everybody?"

Natalia chuckled, "We're…good," answering as she looked over at Eric as he stood looking down at the floor, before adding "but evidently not as good as the two of you!"

"I…I have to go to IAB to give them my statement on the shooting this morning, which shouldn't take more than 30 minutes, um," Horatio hesitated then looked down as he fiddled with his sunglasses in his hand, casting a sideways glance and a smile toward Calleigh as he finished, "would you gather the team in the conference room for me Eric in about 35 minutes?"

"Sure H," Eric replied curtly with a serious look.

"Thank you."

Horatio turned to Calleigh and said, "I'll be back shortly Sweetheart," leaving the group as he began walking down the hall.

Calleigh looked at her two colleagues and smiled radiantly asking, "Y'all headed on a call-out?"

"Uh, no…no just down to post. Want to come along?" Natalia asked.

"Sure, why not."

Natalia and Calleigh walked behind Eric as Natalia leaned over to her friend asking, "Care to tell me what is going on with you and Horatio?" she asked smiling inquisitively.

"Let's just say…everything's good. I think Horatio will explain everything in the meeting very shortly."

Horatio walked in the conference room with Captain Morales at his side and began. "Ladies," he affectionately smiled as he gestured for Calleigh to join him, "and gentlemen, I have two announcements to make to you this afternoon," Horatio began as he wrapped his arm around Calleigh's waist continuing, "Calleigh has accepted a promotion to Lieutenant, she will be sharing supervisory duties with myself, making sure there will be a Lieutenant in the lab at all times. The uh, second announcement is more of a personal one," he turned toward Calleigh and warmly smiled as he said, "Calleigh has agreed to become my wife."

A loud, unified gasp filled the room and then all the team erupted with a cheer as they leaped to their feet each taking turns to hug them both, except for Eric. He could only stare at the couple as everyone else was congratulating them. Quietly, he slipped out of the room and walked away with his head hung down. Horatio noticed the reaction and stopped smiling as he admonished himself, _I should have already talked with him about my intentions. It's just all happened so fast…I can hardly believe it myself. _

Horatio leaned over and whispered into Calleigh's ear, "Sweetheart, I'll be back in a minute…there's something, I need to take care of…" Calleigh knew where he was going, noticing Eric's reaction, "Ok Handsome see you in a few minutes." She turned back to Natalia who was admiring her engagement ring.

**TBC…**


	17. Chapter 17

**A Father's Heartache**

**Chapter 17**

As Horatio stepped out of the conference room, he saw Eric headed toward the locker room and decided to follow him and talk with him about everything that was happening. As he walked, Horatio thought about the old proverbial axiom, 'better late than never' and he certainly hoped it would ring true now.

"Eric," Horatio called, but the Cuban continued on unwilling to stop, he pushed open the door leading into the locker room hoping to escape the happy sounds. Horatio followed him inside, finally succeeding in making Eric stop so they could talk.

"Eric, you and I need to clear the air," Horatio softly asserted.

"H, I don't see how our talking about what's going on will change anything."

Horatio hung his head, staring down at the floor before straightening and sighing heavily, then placing both of his hands on his hips.

"Eric, I never intended to hurt you. I know you care for Calleigh and um…"

Eric cut him off as his agitation grew along with the volume of his voice. "That's right H, I do care for her, but unlike you, I can't pull off promotions just so I can have a legitimate affair with her."

Horatio calmly responded, "I didn't get that promotion for Calleigh, Eric. The decision to change the structure of this lab was strictly a move made by the Chief and Commissioner."

Eric chuckled as he looked around the room avoiding Horatio's eyes. "Sure H. Listen, I need to get out of here before I spoil the party."

Quickly, Horatio reached out and grabbed Eric's arm. Eric spun around, somewhat startling Horatio and screamed, "You've been flirting with her for years, now you stand here telling me you had nothing to do with her promotion paving the way for the two of you to marry?"

"THAT'S ENOUGH ERIC," Horatio raised his voice responding back to him.

Like a flash Eric swung his right fist connecting with Horatio's jaw, sending him crashing into the lockers behind, then down to the floor. Realization of what he had just done shocked Eric to his core and suddenly a wave of guilt swept over him.

He watched Horatio struggling to sit up and softly said, "H…I'm sorry…I'm… then he turned and ran out of the locker room past Calleigh and the rest of the team who were out in the hallway.

Calleigh ran to the door and entered the locker room followed by Frank and the others after hearing Eric shouting and the crash from out in the hallway.

"HORATIO…," she cried, running over to him.

Frank mumbled under his breath, "Delko's lost it hitting Horatio. I'm gonna bring him in, he can't get away with this." Then he got down on a knee beside his friend and asked, "You alright Horatio?"

"I'm…ok Francis," Horatio struggled to talk between gasps. "Let…Eric…go. I…I deserved the…punch." Calleigh, still kneeling beside Horatio looked at him wide-eyed, not believing what she just heard.

"How on earth can you say that Horatio…nobody deserves to be punched in anger?"

"Eric needs to be charged for this H, this is assault on a police officer and his superior no less," Ryan added.

"NO," Horatio shouted from where he sat propped against the row of lockers. "I'm not…pressing charges…," wincing with pain as he gingerly held his left side with his right arm. Calleigh began shaking her head in dismay thinking Eric needed to be taught a lesson in learning how to control his temper. She gingerly took a napkin and wiped the blood off that was trickling out the corner of Horatio's mouth.

With assistance from Frank, Horatio got to his feet, although wobbly, and walked out with Calleigh and the rest of the team. Natalia told Calleigh they would talk later as she really needed to get back to the DNA lab to finish running some tests for a court case coming up in a few days.

"Lieutenant Caine," Paula, the receptionist called to him. "You have an envelope that was delivered just a few minutes ago," as they stopped just off the reception desk before continuing on toward the exit leading out to the garage.

Horatio walked over to the desk and took the envelope from her and thanked her. He took a deep breath and noticed Calleigh's questioning expression as he opened the envelope, pulling out the note.

_Lieutenant Caine,_

_I do hope this note finds you recovering from your injuries, but you can never tell when there could be a setback. Oh, and it seems that I should congratulate you and your beautiful lady on your upcoming nuptials, please enjoy the fireworks that I have ordered just for the occasion. _

_We'll talk soon_.

Horatio froze in place as he stared at the note in his hand. Calleigh and the others watched him noticing the sudden change in his countenance.

"Handsome, what is it? What does the note say?"

"Mr. Wolfe, take this note and envelope to trace and check it for any evidence, please."

"Sure H, I'll get right on it."

"Thank you."

Horatio had just turned and wrapped an arm around Calleigh with his back positioned to the front door of the building just before all hell broke loose. Suddenly the front of the building exploded, blowing people, glass and furniture back into the building with tremendous force and the concussion of the explosion literally lifted Calleigh, Horatio, and Frank off their feet and tossed them backwards.

After a couple of minutes, Frank slowly lifted his head coughing as he looked around trying to allow his mind to grasp what had just happened. He heard screams and outside, sirens were wailing everywhere, then as the dust began settling he didn't see anyone else near him.

All of a sudden a fit of coughing from the thick smoke made him collapse back to the floor. As it subsided he realized something warm was running down the side of his face and reached up and brought down a bloody hand. Ignoring the pain he pulled himself through the debris, then he heard Wolfe's and Natalia's voices screaming their names.

"Over here Wolfe…" Frank weakly shouted. Ryan was at his side quickly after lifting the debris out the way so he could get to Frank.

Ryan quickly asked, "Where's H and Calleigh? Is Paula back here?"

Frank sputtered, "No one is behind the reception desk but me Ryan…"

"Paramedics are on the way big guy…you need to sit down. Looks like you took a good shot to the head."

"We need to look for Horatio, Calleigh…Paula."

"You stay put…and I'll look for them."

Natalia was frantically looking around the large area in search for the injured when Ryan called out to her amid the smoke and numerous shouts from people trying to find comrades and friends.

"I found Frank, but Horatio, Calleigh and Paula are missing." They both began calling all three names, frantically looking for any sign of them.

Then Natalia spotted what looked like Horatio's shoe sticking out from under a pile of debris.

"Ryan over here," Natalia called as she almost choked on the dust and putrid smelling air. She quickly began lifting what she could off of the pile until Ryan got there to help her lift off the wallboard and twisted metal.

"HORATIO, he's here Ryan…and I see Calleigh underneath him. Horatio can you hear me? Ryan, help me move him off of Calleigh." Ryan started lifting Horatio up by grasping him underneath his shoulders.

"Careful, he might be seriously hurt." Once Horatio was carefully taken off of Calleigh, Natalia felt of her pulse and realized it was weak.

"H, can you hear me?" Ryan asked as Horatio began to stir as if he were coming to.

"Calleigh's unconscious, and her breathing is too shallow. Where are the damn paramedics?" Just as the words left her mouth, paramedics began running into the building and two came toward Natalia and Ryan.

Horatio began coughing and groaning, then he called for Calleigh. "Cal…where's…Calleigh?" Horatio's coughing increased as he struggled to talk.

"H, don't talk. The paramedics are here," Ryan instructed and then stood up stepping back as the paramedics began working on his two friends.

Natalia walked over to Ryan and asked, "What in the hell happened here. What could have caused this kind of destruction?"

"I don't know, but we need to try to preserve the evidence if we're going to have any chance of finding out what this is about. Horatio received a suspicious note just before the explosion, and in the message it spoke of fireworks," Ryan replied as he looked around nervously.

Horatio began fighting the paramedics claiming he was alright and did not need to go to the hospital, instead he begged for them to focus their attention on Calleigh because she was the one hurt.

"Sir, we are treating her and we are taking you along with her to Miami-Dade General. You at least need to be checked out because you are dazed and I was told unresponsive for a time plus, you have numerous cuts from the glass" one of the paramedics explained.

Horatio pulled himself over to Calleigh and began to tenderly caress her cheek, pleading for her to wake up as tears flowed down his cheeks, "Sweetheart, wake up for me…you've got…you've got to be ok." Calleigh was not responding as the paramedics began gently picking her up and placing her on a gurney to take her to a waiting ambulance.

Horatio collapsed back down on the floor, crying out in pain and coughing uncontrollably until the paramedics placed an oxygen mask on him and began lifting him onto a gurney.

Ryan moved to the side of Horatio as they were taking him out assuring him, "H, we're going to find out who did this," he shouted as they continued to roll him out.

Natalia asked the paramedics to request Dr. Alexx Woods, as she had been treating the two injured CSI's recently. They assured her they would.

Just then someone shouted they had found Paula behind one of the sofas from the reception area that was pushed against the back wall from the force of the explosion.

"She seems to be alright," one of the officers shouted, to the relief of all within earshot.

The ambulance carrying Horatio and Calleigh arrived at the ER and Alexx Woods opened the back door, anxious to check on the condition of her dear friends.

"Take Lieutenant Caine into room 1 and CSI Duquesne to room 2." Then Alexx turned and observed another ambulance and watched as the paramedics assisted Frank who was on his feet being helped out of the ambulance.

"Frank, can you make it inside with assistance?"

"You betcha I can, Alexx. I'm so mad I could walk to Palm Beach right now."

Alexx went to Calleigh first as the paramedics told her she was the most injured. She looked at her dear friend and shook her head in disbelief over her condition and started ordering medication to be administered into her IV and MRI scans to check for internal injuries of both her head and torso.

"I need x-rays of her left leg since the paramedics noticed swelling, it may be her fibula," Alexx instructed the staff.

"Watch her oxygen level closely as well as her blood pressure. I'll be in room 1 with Lieutenant Caine. Let me know when her scans are done…"

"Sir, you must go back to your room," Alexx heard one of the female nurses pleading with someone in the direction of the door which made Alexx quickly turn around, shocked to see Horatio wobbling toward Calleigh.

"Horatio Caine…what do you think you are doing?"

"I…have…to…see her…make sure…she's alright," he whispered causing him to begin coughing which made him less stable on his feet. He made it to the bed where Calleigh was laying, oblivious to what was going on around her.

"She…she's not…conscious. Is she…is she hurt bad?" He asked with a worried look on his face as he softly caressed Calleigh's cheek, whispering, "I love you Calleigh. I'm so sorry this happened. Please wake up for me Sweetheart."

"I'm sending her for an MRI and x-ray Horatio so, I won't know what we're dealing with until I get those reports back, but in the meantime, _you_ my friend are obviously injured and you need to go back and lie down. One of the male nurses in the room began moving around the bed toward Horatio when Alexx noticed him begin to weave and quickly his legs buckled underneath him, but the nurse was able to reach Horatio and catch him before he hit the floor.

"Jerry, help me get him back to his exam room," he called to the other male nurse in the room.

Alexx quickly informed the young men, "He already has broken ribs on the left side of his back so, be careful handling him."

Frank walked up to Alexx as she exited Calleigh's room asking, "I saw two men carrying Horatio out, is he ok?"

"Sugar, I'm going right now to find out. How are you doing?" Alexx asked as she felt of the bandage on Frank's forehead.

"Just a bump on my hard head…I'm ok. One of the other ER docs released me to go home, but I'm not leaving until I know how Calleigh and Horatio are doing."

Alexx scowled at the big man and replied, "You need to let one of the officers here take you home and rest Frank. I won't know anything until I get the tests back on Calleigh and I'm just now going in to examine Horatio."

"I'll wait."

Stopping before entering the exam room she turned and asked, "What happened to cause this Frank? The paramedics said the front of the lab exploded? Is that true?"

"Yeah, it's true. We're not exactly sure right now how it happened, but we're sure as hell going to find out." Alexx shook her head in disgust that something like that could happen.

Frank accompanied Alexx into the room to examine Horatio, but stayed out of the way. Alexx found him lying down with one of the male nurses beside the bed making sure he didn't try getting up again.

Then she walked over to Horatio and placed a gentle hand on his forehead softly asking, "Honey…how are you feeling?"

"I'm ok Alexx…just got a little dizzy back there's all. I'm so worried about Calleigh. Do you know the extent of her injuries?"

Alexx sighed and looked down before replying knowing Horatio loved Calleigh and had put two and two together when she noticed the ring on her finger. "Honey, I don't know yet, but being that you are her fiancé, you will be the first to know about her condition," she smiled, "I saw the beautiful ring on her finger and I took the liberty of removing it and putting it in my personal safe for the time being."

Horatio managed to smile and said, "Thank you."

"But right now, I'm going to give you an exam. We need to find out the status of those ribs after the impact of that blast. I'm going to feel around on your chest and abdomen to check for any further injury Horatio." Alexx began to lightly press on his stomach and upper abdomen area when suddenly he drew up his legs and writhed in pain as his hands immediately grabbed hers gasping for her to quit pressing.

"Horatio, Honey I'm going to have to get some pictures of your abdominal area along with your ribs. You might have a serious injury there," Alexx said looking concerned.

"Jerry, call down to x-ray and tell them another patient is on the way for an MRI. I'll make a note on his chart as to what I want done." Jerry nodded his head and left for the nurses' station as Alexx left right behind him.

"Horatio, hang in there man," Frank said attempting to comfort his friend.

"Frank…how…how are you feeling?" Horatio asked.

"Hell of a lot better than you my friend." Horatio chuckled then winced with pain from the motion.

"Would…would you feel up to going by my house and bringing me back some clothes?"

"Now what in the sam hill do you need clothes for right now Horatio? You can't possibly be getting out of this joint any time soon."

Horatio smiled at his friend and answered, "Watch me."

Frank just shook his head in disbelief and then asked, "What's the hurry Horatio? What do you think you're going to accomplish if you do manage to leave?"

"What…what I'm going to do my friend…is find Tony Scarpella. He and his minions…are responsible for all this misery inflicted on my friends…my lab and I am going to find a way to end it. It's me he wants…." Horatio's voice trailed off.

"Horatio, don't talk like that…it makes me very uneasy thinking of what you may have in mind doing. What about Calleigh? What are we supposed to tell her when she wakes up and you're not here?"

"Tell her…tell her that I love her and I want her to have a normal life and if I don't take care of Scarpella, that won't be possible," he sighed.

Then two orderlies from x-ray came into the room to roll Horatio down for his MRI.

Horatio looked over at his friend and said, "See you later Frank. Just put them in the closet over there…when you get back, ok?"

Frank grimaced and wiped his worried face with his hand and answered reluctantly, "Sure."

Walking down the main hallway, Frank saw Eric running inside the ER toward the desk, until he saw Frank and ran to him instead.

"Frank, what the hell happened at the lab? I was told you Calleigh and Horatio were some of the people caught in the explosion…how are they?"

Frank caught Eric off-guard as the big man grabbed the young Cuban and slammed him against the wall.

"What do you mean hitting Horatio like you did back at the lab, huh? You knew he was already injured…what were you thinking Delko?"

"I…I wasn't thinking Frank. I was wrong and I feel terrible about what I did."

"Well you ought to and the thing is, Horatio doesn't want to file charges…you know you could lose your badge over something like this?"

"I know I could Frank…and I would deserve to."

Frank could see the worry in the man's eyes when he asked, "How are H and Calleigh?"

"They're both being examined. Calleigh is unconscious and Horatio is hurting, but he won't admit it."

Eric hung his head as he whispered, "I can't believe this; how could something like this happen at the lab?"

"Horatio received a note at the front desk just before the explosion. He's sure it's Scarpella sending him a message and he's planning to go after him."

Later Horatio was rolled back into his room and as soon as the two men left he began to struggle to sit up; once he accomplished that, he swung his legs over the side of the bed and sat there for a moment before making his next move, which was to stand up. As he attempted to stand as straight as he could manage, a pain shot up his left side and he gripped the mattress, holding on until it finally passed. Then the door unexpectedly opened and Alexx was stunned at what she saw, but not totally surprised.

"Horatio, just where do you think you're going?"

Just then Horatio's cell phone rang on the table beside the bed. He slowly took the couple of steps and picked it up, "Caine."

"Dad…Dad I'm sorry…I thought I was being careful. I love you Dad…"

Horatio's voice was filled with fear as he gripped the bed railing, "Son, what's going on? Kyle?"

Then Horatio froze when heard an evil voice from the past. "Ahh, Lieutenant Caine, so how'd you like the fireworks?"

**TBC…**


	18. Chapter 18

**A Father's Heartache**

**Chapter 18**

As Horatio listened to the evil voice on the other end, his mind was working furiously on how he could counter the plan Scarpella was revealing to him over the phone.

"_I'll give you a few hours to catch your breath Caine, but at 5 in the morning, you had better show up, unarmed at the Dry-Dock Marina, slip 208. There'll be a very large man waiting on the pier for you named Oscar. He'll make sure you are gun and wire-free before being brought to me. As soon as you arrive, you have my word that your son will be let out at MDPD. Now, rest up and say good-bye to your beautiful blonde bombshell, I do hope she recovers, too bad you won't be around to see it."_

"I promise you…if you my son is harmed in any way…your days will be numbered Tony," Horatio growled menacingly back at the caller.

Laughter was all Horatio heard at the other end. _"My, my Lieutenant it seems you're not exactly in the position to be threatening me. I really must go now, have to 'rise and shine' early in the morning,"_ Scarpella disconnected the call, but Horatio continued holding the phone, staring at the wall in front of him.

"Horatio…Horatio, now don't you go and pass out on me," Alexx admonished softly, after noticing his face pale suddenly during the call.

Quickly dialing the lab, he talked with Dave in the AV lab and asked if he could trace the last call to his cell. After a couple of minutes, the technician gave him the bad news that the call was untraceable.

"Thanks anyway…didn't think he'd make it that easy."

Horatio slumped in momentary defeat, but then somehow found inner strength to focus on what he needed to do.

"Honey, what's the matter?" Alexx inquired with concern as she stepped closer and placed her hand on his arm.

After a few moments Horatio raised his head and looked at his friend, "Tony Scarpella, a mobster that's…after me…has…Kyle," managing to croak as he clung to the bed railing tighter. "I've…I've…got to go…or my son…they will..."

"Horatio Caine, YOU are not going anyplace except back into that bed!"

"Alexx…" Horatio growled, "If…I don't…go, Calleigh…could be…next," pleading with her to understand.

"I'm going…to get dressed now. Then I want to be with Calleigh until I need to leave."

"Horatio I understand, but your MRI revealed bruising of your liver, and spleen, not to mention your broken ribs. You are going to be too ill to be walking around."

"I don't…have a choice," he said and let out a heavy breath. "Now if you'll excuse me," Horatio tilted his head and looked at her.

After touching base with Frank about what was going on, Horatio slowly made his way to Calleigh's room and sat down heavily in the chair by her bed, then reached out and took her hand in his. She looked so peaceful, so beautiful, he moved closer to her, to be able to touch her cheek and run his hand through her long golden hair. Tears began their slow descent down his cheeks as he thought of how all of this pain was because of him. He was still trying to come to grips that she had a partially collapsed lung, from a couple of broken ribs, caused by his weight being slammed against her body from the explosion; the only good news, if it could be called that, was her leg injury was only deeply bruised tissue.

"Calleigh," he whispered as his lips lightly touched hers and then her forehead as he gently pushed some of her hair back out of her face, "I love you so much…you're my lifeline to sanity Sweetheart. I need you to come back to me…please open your beautiful green eyes for me," he tenderly begged, but she continued to lay unmoving, unresponsive to his words…the soft sound of her breathing, and the steady beeping of machines around her were the only noises in the room. He felt so tired, so drained and he finally gave in and put his head down on her bed next to her hand as he continued holding it in his. Alexx had started in the door, but after hearing just a small part of Horatio's heartfelt emotions, she quietly backed out giving him privacy in his last hours with Calleigh.

The nurse smiled and softly whispered as she touched his shoulder, "Lieutenant, it's 3 am, you asked me to make sure you were awake by this time, and I think you will be happy that someone else is awake."

"Hmm, wh…what," as he slowly realized Calleigh's hand was grasping his and he lifted his head and looked up to see a pair of green eyes smiling back at him.

"Calleigh…Sweetheart…you're awake!" He exclaimed in relief and brought her hand up to his lips and kissed the back of it as he gave her his biggest smile.

Trying to muffle his groans, he stood up and leaned over and tenderly kissed her lips, then moved up and kissed her forehead lightly as he brushed his hand against her hair, she closed her eyes briefly, enjoying his gentle touch.

"Sweetheart…you scared me, I…."

"Handsome…" she began to cough and Horatio reached over to the table close to the bed, and retrieved a cup of water with a straw already in it.

"Cal…drink a little water…it will help," he told her as he held the cup for her.

"Handsome, you don't look well…you need to be in bed," tracing a finger over a cut on his cheek.

Horatio hung his head to hide the reflection of pain that etched across his face as he was gripped with a strong jolt of pain.

"Horatio…you can't keep the fact that you are hurting from me…I can feel it."

"I'll be alright Sweetheart. I'm…I'm going to have to leave for a while. I've got to…"

"You're going to WHAT…" she began coughing again, but refused the water this time.

"Handsome," she began after regaining her ability to talk, "why do you have to leave? You need rest and medical attention."

"Calleigh, I received a call from Kyle earlier…Scarpella is holding him." Calleigh suddenly drew in a sharp breath, "Oh Horatio, I'm so sorry…but right now you need to let the team help."

It broke his heart to see her suffering like this, "Sweetheart," he said as he gently began caressing her forehead and a tear rolled down his cheek despite his best efforts to try and remain strong for her.

"What about…Sam…has he got her too?" Calleigh asked.

"No, I called Frank and asked him to check with her parents in Georgia to make sure she was ok, and she is fine. Remember, she went home for a couple of days before her nursing school began." Calleigh shook her head in understanding.

"Sweetheart…I…I need to go. I don't want to leave you, but Kyle…" and then he looked into her eyes and broke down. Keeping his weight on his forearms, he leaned over Calleigh and gingerly took her in his arms and cried for a couple of minutes before regaining his composure. Calleigh just held him and cried with him knowing he was going up against a ruthless criminal to get Kyle back.

Horatio pushed himself up, wiping his face with his handkerchief, "I'm…I'm sorry Cal for losing it like that…it's just that I'm scared of losing Kyle, and you. If I don't stop this evil, we won't have any peace in our lives."

"Horatio…come back to me…please. I don't ever want to lose you…I love you, after all these years…we're so close to…to," Calleigh began to cry, attempting to stop her tears so she could finish.

"To a…wonderful life together," Horatio finished her statement with his heart breaking. "I know…I feel the same, Sweetheart. I'm coming back…but…"

Calleigh strongly stopped him short, "No, don't say it…"

Horatio took her in his arms for the last time and croaked, "I love you Calleigh…I always will…" then buried his face in her hair. He sat back up and looked into her eyes that were welled with tears and a few making their way down her cheeks; he wiped them off with his hand before pulling his arms back from her. Getting to his feet, he slowly turned away from the bed and began walking unsteadily toward the door. Pausing for a moment after taking the knob in his hand, he turned and looked one last time at the woman who held his heart softly saying to her, "You have my heart, keep it with you always Calleigh," then he stepped out into the hallway with a grim face and saw Frank and Eric waiting for him, after acknowledging the two officers standing guard at her door, Horatio walked toward his friends.

"How's Calleigh, Horatio?" Frank inquired as Eric stood waiting for his answer with concern etched on his face.

"She's awake. I think physically she will be ok, I want 24 hour protection on her until this is over."

"You got it my friend."

Alexx walked up and Horatio quietly asked, "Calleigh needs you, can you stay with her?"

"I just signed out. I'll stay with her as long as I need to…but you come back Horatio, you bring yourself and Kyle back to us…to Calleigh." She noticed his tear stained face and knew he was fighting deep emotional pain as well as the physical pain of his injuries.

He smiled slightly taking her hand in his, "Thank you Alexx. I plan to." He squeezed her hand before letting go and walking off with Frank and Eric.

She watched the men walk away and thought _if you don't come back Horatio Caine, one person will die with you and I don't know how I will be able to watch Calleigh walk down that road._

When they stopped at the elevators, Eric took the opportunity to begin, "Horatio, I'm so sorry for what I did to you at the lab. I should be punished…I just lost it."

"Eric…"

"No hear me out H, I love Calleigh, but I know she doesn't love me, not in the way I wanted her to, and I just need to face that fact and move on. Please believe me that I'm glad it's you she truly loves, you're a good man and I know you will protect her."

Horatio was looking down at the floor, but slowly brought his head up and met Eric's eyes replying, "I am relieved to hear this Eric, I love her more than life and I will die before I let anything, or anybody hurt her." Eric gingerly placed his arm around Horatio's shoulder and briefly hugged him.

_Ding_. The elevator arrived. As they rode down, Horatio shared what he had planned with the two men. Arriving at the lab, Horatio noticed gratefully that the majority of the building had survived the blast. Ryan greeted them as the group walked into the lab and was shocked to see Horatio walking in, quickly noticing his boss's physical condition.

"H, are you sure you should be here?"

"Probably not Mr. Wolfe, but Scarpella…has Kyle." Ryan was shocked.

"What…how?"

"I don't know, but what I do know is that I'm going to get him back, but I'll need some help. Let's go to the conference room to discuss this."

"Sure H." As they walked, Ryan informed him and the others, " We found an RPG launcher on the sidewalk across from the lab…it had been fired so I ran prints and came up with a one Luis Fernando "Nando" Gomez. He has a long rap sheet, with connections to the Brazilian Mafia. I've already put out a BOLO on him."

"Good, Mr. Wolfe."

"Frank, I need you to go over to the bomb squad and…" Horatio began setting his plan in motion.

Meanwhile on a large yacht out in the international waters off of Miami, Scarpella was making sure everything was in place for the arrival of his 'guest'.

**TBC…**

**A/N: I debated about ending the chapter at this point, but decided with all the action in the previous chapter, and with more to come, my readers might need a break. Also, I believed that H&C's tearful parting might be enough to deal with!**


	19. Chapter 19

**A Father's Heartache**

**Chapter 19**

Kyle could hear muted laughter and shouting as he felt himself coming out of what he assumed was sleep. As his mind became more alert, he suddenly remembered he had not been asleep, but unconscious thanks to a beating. He lifted his head a little too quickly and felt the room begin to spin so, he laid it back down on the cool concrete floor underneath him. Lying there waiting for his equilibrium to return to normal, he was reminded of another time he sustained a similar beating after arriving in Afghanistan, only that time it was courtesy of a misunderstanding on the part of another soldier, when the guy thought Kyle was the one who took some cookies his girlfriend had mailed to him. He never told his dad about the incident for two reasons; one, he was familiar with his dad's strong protective nature concerning the people he loved, and was afraid that his dad would go ballistic and contact the C.O. about the problem plus, the second and most important reason was, he didn't want to add to his father's worries.

All of his senses now were awake and he put them on high alert, realizing how he ended up in the small room. He had been unlocking his car on campus when another student approached him and asked for directions to a classroom building, distracting him enough that he failed to notice another larger man coming close behind until it was too late and the strong smell of chloroform invaded his nostrils. When he awoke from that incident, he found himself bound to a chair in a room with three men, one of whom seemed more professional about everything than the other two.

The serious man who appeared to be in charge of everything kept referring to his dad and how he was going to make him pay for what he had done years ago when he broke up a drug smuggling ring in Miami. The man ranted about how he had lost his position in the mafia and almost his life to another mafia would-be kingpin who moved into his territory after the destruction under his watch. Kyle thought he had never seen someone as angry as this little man and immediately was afraid for his dad's safety.

Feeling as if he was now on an even keel, Kyle's army training took over, especially the instruction he remembered for if and when he might become a hostage. _I've got to get out of here and help Dad…start closely examining your surroundings Caine…look for anything that might contribute in any way towards making escape successful _the instructor's voice was telling him. Kyle noticed a short piece of wire that had been pushed into a crack where the floor joined the wall which had escaped his captor's attention. Thankful that his captors had not felt the need to bind his hands, Kyle picked up the wire and began straightening the makeshift tool to be more useable for his needs.

Next he brought to mind the stop, look and listen rule. He slowly walked to the door that was between him and the two men guarding him. He could make out their jovial chatter and the loud laughter, but they were speaking in a language not familiar…then he realized it was Portuguese, but in any language he could make out they were both getting pretty soused on whatever they were drinking. Kyle told himself, _don't get in a hurry…wait until they get so out of it they might pass out._ So Kyle sat down on the floor with his back against the door and patiently waited.

Meanwhile back in the conference room of the lab –

"H, this is going to be pretty dangerous…do you feel like you can physically handle it?" Frank asked his friend, concerned that Horatio looked like death warmed over at the moment.

"If my family can have any chance at a normal life, I've got to do this…and I have to do it in a way that won't put Kyle in any more danger."

Eric began shaking his head in disagreement, "H, I don't like this…there is a high probability you won't survive this."

Horatio hung his head and slowly raised it back up looking across at his brother-in-law softly asking, "What other option do we have?"

"The Coast Guard could…"

Horatio interrupted abruptly, "Eric, the only thing the Coast Guard would do is guarantee Kyle's death, and Calleigh would be next…I can't risk it. It'd never end until everybody was dead…at least this way, I'm the one Scarpella wants and he'll have me."

The three men sat in silence until Horatio finally began going over the device sitting on the table in front of him.

Frank broke their silence commenting, "I don't see how in the hell something that small is going to be deadly enough to take them all out."

Horatio chuckled then held his breath until the pain created from the movement diminished, being replaced by a feeling of nausea that he pushed down. "It only takes a small amount my friend."

Horatio's cell phone began ringing, startling them all. Pulling the phone out of his coat pocket, Horatio looked at the unfamiliar number and fear ran through him in a flash, _something could be wrong with Calleigh_ was his first thought.

Answering meekly he said, "Lieutenant Caine."

"DAD…I'm free," Horatio almost dropped the phone.

"Kyle…son are you alright?" Horatio wondered if this was another attempt by Scarpella to get him rattled before the meeting.

"Dad…I got away thanks to my Army training!" Horatio sat stunned, not expecting to hear such wonderful news.

"Son, where are you?"

"I walked to a Waffle House on Breakaway Beach Avenue. One of the waitresses let me use her cell phone to call you."

"How…how far did you walk Kyle, they could realize you're gone and come looking for you."

Frank and Eric let out big sighs of relief, overhearing the conversation.

Kyle laughed, "Not a chance Dad, they were passed out from drinking, but I did think of that and walked probably close to a mile."

"Kyle, stay there and try to make yourself blend in with others…I'm sending a marked patrol car with two uniformed officers to pick you up. Stay inside, they will come and find you. I am going to instruct them to take you to Miami-Dade for a check-up ok? Tell them everything and the location of where you were held."

Horatio wrote down Kyle's location and pushed it toward Frank who immediately took the paper and walked out of the room to send the car.

"Dad, I'm ok. That…"

"No protests…you're going."

"Dad…he's real angry with you…he's going to try to kill you."

"I know Son I know…I'll be ok. Kyle, stay with Calleigh for me, she's there in the hospital."

"She's in the hospital?"

"She is…she'll explain everything."

"I love you Kyle…we'll talk later after I take care of this, alright?"

"Be careful Dad…I love you too." Horatio closed his eyes wanting so much to just hold his son right now.

After ending the call, Horatio put his head down on his arm on the table and began to softly cry. Eric gently placed his hand on Horatio's back and began lightly rubbing back and forth.

"H, why not let the Coast Guard take care of the scum now that Kyle's safe?"

Horatio slowly sat up in the chair, embarrassed by his breakdown, but his emotions had been on a roller coaster for hours and he couldn't seem to calm them.

"I've got to still go after him Eric…I want him dead, but my plan needs to be changed, I don't want you or Frank involved in this." Frank walked back into the room just as Horatio made the comment.

"Like hell we're not going with you!" Frank roared.

"Francis...I don't want you and Eric involved in a personal vendetta. Before, I needed your help when he had Kyle, but since Kyle is safe…this is between Scarpella and me now."

Frank was beside himself, glancing at Horatio sharply huffing as he turned away and began looking out the window at the city lights spread out in front of him. With tight lips, Frank announced, "I hope it was alright, I sent Wolfe with the officers to pick up Kyle. He'll take Kyle to the hospital while the two officers will be joined by SWAT to go pick up the two thugs that held him hostage."

"Good thinking, my friend," Horatio absent mindedly commented as he seemed lost in thought going over his new plan.

Horatio looked at his watch and noticed it was 4:10. "Gentlemen, I need to be preparing to go," he said as he slowly stood up from the table. Suddenly a wave of nausea hit and he knew there was no stopping it. He walked out of the room, as his two friends exchanged glances, both noticing the color of their friend's face. Horatio walked as quickly as he could and after entering the men's room, he threw up in a toilet.

_Guess Alexx was right…I am sick, but it's not going to stop me. _He walked over to a lavatory and splashed cold water on his face, which helped him feel slightly better. Opening the door, both Frank and Eric were standing there waiting on him.

"We're at least going to the marina with you H to take care of the goon waiting for you there. You're in no condition to fend him off and then go after Scarpella," Eric announced firmly.

Horatio looked down, momentarily overwhelmed by his friend's loyalty and then looked up and weakly said, "Thank you."

The Hummer stopped out of sight of the marina as Eric slipped out into the darkness in his wetsuit to swim silently through the water to the end of the pier beyond the boat in slip #208. Davy in the AV lab had brought up a map of the marina showing the location of the slips by number, much to Eric's delight.

Frank got out just around the corner of the main building so he could back Horatio up if need be. Horatio then drove on to the pier and stopped. He glanced around, and saw no one out at this early hour, but there soon would be fishermen coming to get their boats for an early morning start of a day of fishing. He turned the Hummer's engine off and exited the vehicle slowly.

Walking toward the gate of the pier he stopped and opened it, taking his time giving Eric a head start on swimming around the area and getting himself in place. Horatio began to walk down the pier further down, he saw a big burly, bald-headed man standing with his arms crossed across his chest.

"Well," the big man growled as Horatio got closer to him, "'bout time you showed up." The big man reached to grab Horatio as Eric pressed the gun barrel against his back.

Horatio grinned responding, "Wouldn't have missed seeing your expression of my arrival."

Relieving the big man of the weapon stuck in his belt in the back, Eric growled, "Hands behind your back goon."

As the handcuffs were locked on his wrists the man laughed, "You have just given your son a death sentence." Horatio just smiled as Frank took the man and led him back to the Hummer to pat him down and secure him in the back of the vehicle.

"You can sit in here on ice my friend and think about the years you are facing behind bars," Frank snipped, then slammed the door and headed back to help Horatio.

Horatio stepped onto the boat and the motion made his nausea return, but he had picked up some nausea pills in his office and quickly popped two in his mouth thinking, _that ought to hold me until this is over._ Frank and Eric looked at each other dismayed as to how to stop their friend from his suicide mission.

"H, couldn't we go out with you hidden on the boat, just in case you need help out there?"

"Eric, we've gone over why I don't want either of you involved…it could mean your career and the most important reason of all is that I don't want anyone else hurt because of me." Eric looked down at the water then replied,

"What about your career if you survive this?"

Horatio smiled and answered, "Mine…mine is just about over. You have many years yet, as does Frank."

"Man the ropes for me please, gentlemen."

Frank and Eric watched Horatio take the boat out of the marina, then out into the Atlantic to possibly meet his death. As the boat made its way with Horatio following the coordinates given him by Scarpella, he was thankful for being somewhat familiar with the area where he was headed since he used to take Ray, Jr. out fishing near the same location. The sky was just beginning to lighten and he thought of Calleigh. Taking his cell phone from his coat pocket, he dialed the hospital and was connected to Calleigh's room.

Alexx answered, "Hello."

Horatio smiled, "Alexx…"

"Horatio Caine, where are you?"

"I'm on a boat on my way to end this. How is Calleigh?"

Alexx turned and looked over at Calleigh's sleeping form and whispered, "Horatio, she was so upset after you left that I had to give her a mild sedative. She's asleep."

Horatio was crest fallen…he longed to hear her sweet Southern voice one more time then Alexx abruptly said, "Wait Honey…Calleigh?"

Calleigh had taken the phone from Alexx as her soft voice cried, "Horatio…Handsome are you alright…is it over?"

Suddenly Horatio thought that perhaps this was not a good idea to call before it was all finished. "Sweetheart," he whispered, "how are you feeling?"

"Lost Horatio…it's not over is it?"

"Calleigh, it soon will be. I'm taking a boat out to Scarpella's yacht right now. Frank and Eric helped me…and the best news is that Kyle is safe, he escaped."

"HE'S SAFE…thank God. Can't you just forget Scarpella since Kyle is safe?"

"No Cal…I can't. He would always be out there, potentially ruining our lives whenever it suited him. I'm going to do away with him permanently."

"Cal…I didn't have long to talk, but I wanted to tell you about Kyle. He should be joining you in your room at any time now. I sent him to be checked out at the hospital and told him to go to your room afterward. Sweetheart…Calleigh, I love you."

Through her tears she softly answered, "I love you Horatio…please be careful."

"Always Sweetheart." Before Horatio disconnected the call he whispered, "Take care of yourself Calleigh."

As Horatio placed his phone back inside his coat, he saw the yacht's lights getting closer. He took in a deep breath and thought _I'm going to make him pay for Kyle and all the other victims of his crimes._

Horatio cut the engines as he pulled up alongside the huge boat and thought it was strange there was no one in view; in fact the lower deck, the closest to him was dark. Carrying out his plan he slapped the explosive on the hull of the boat, just above the water line and pushed the button beginning the countdown on the detonator. Then he pulled his Sig Sauer 9mm from its holster and began to board the larger vessel.

As he carefully took one step at a time, he realized he was sweating profusely and felt his stomach tightening as the seconds ticked by. _This was to be a set up for me…only I wasn't supposed to be armed._ He heard a slight movement to his right, but before he could react, a hard piece of metal came in contact with his upper right arm causing his grip to loosen on his gun. As he loudly grunted in pain, grasping his right arm with his left, he heard a loud bang and then felt the hot searing pain in his left leg causing him to fall backward down to the boarding deck at the rear of the boat. The jolt of hitting the deck sent powerful waves of pain throughout his body, but he was determined not to loose consciousness.

As Scarpella stood at the top of the stairs looking down on his opponent he growled, "Oscar didn't do his job gentlemen, he allowed the Lieutenant to reach us armed." Then he sighed heavily and shook his head, "Good help really is hard to find these days. I will deal with him later."

Horatio, clutching his upper leg rasped, "Don't bother, I took care…of him…for you."

"I guess I should say 'thank you'. It's odd to me though that you don't care too much about your son because I am about to make the call to have him permanently removed from your life considering your infraction of the rules."

Horatio smiled up at the man, even though everything seemed to be spinning he wanted to look into the evil eyes and let him know he even failed at keeping his son hostage.

"You no longer have my son you bastard. He was smarter than the goons you had holding him."

Back on the dock Eric saw what happened to Horatio through binoculars and screamed, "H is down…they shot him…we need a boat NOW!"

Looking behind them, Frank and Eric noticed two fishermen loading their boat to head out for a day of fishing.

"Hey," Eric screamed, "we need your boat," as he and Frank ran toward the men.

Frank showed them his badge saying, "Official police business, we'll bring your boat back."

The two fishermen cast them off and Eric gunned the boat as he pulled away from the pier, ignoring 'no wake' laws. He pushed the boat to its limits as they hit the open water, speeding toward the yacht.

"Delko, was Horatio still on the yacht when he fell?"…Screaming his question over the roaring engines.

"YES," Eric screamed back with his answer.

Frank and Eric knew time was ticking and they had to do something to get their friend off that boat before it was too late. As they were getting closer, suddenly there was a huge explosion that even rocked their boat and the early morning sky was dramatically brightened with red, orange and yellow from the massive eruption.

Eric pulled back on the throttles and sank down into the seat behind him in shock as Frank gripped the console and hung his head shaking it side-to-side mumbling, "Horatio…why?" Eric allowed the boat to drift as they watched pieces still falling from the sky into the water.

**TBC…**


	20. Chapter 20

**A Father's Heartache**

**Chapter 20**

Eric was the first to speak, "H can't be gone…he can't." Then Frank's cell phone rang, it was the Coast Guard saying they were moving in on the site of the explosion to begin recovery efforts. After hanging up, Eric thought he could see tears welling in the big guys eyes.

"Frank, its light enough now…we need to go see if we can find H…we've got to find him. He's out there somewhere…" Eric pushed the throttles forward and proceeded to the strewn pieces of the two boats floating over a large area.

Eric was careful to keep the boat's engines low so they were barely breaking the water enabling them to watch for any sign of Horatio. The Coast Guard cutter had arrived, disbursing smaller boats into the water to aid in the recovery effort.

Eric eased their boat around the debris, desperately searching for the redhead, praying he was alive. They had been scanning the water for about 20 minutes when Eric thought he saw something moving on a large piece of fiberglass. Pointing the boat in the direction to take them to the spot, he told Frank,

"I saw something over there," and pointed to the piece. Frank rushed to Eric's side of the boat praying the young man was right this time, as they had thought they'd seen him before, only to find out it was the body of one of the mobsters.

"I don't see it Delko…wait a minute YES, I see it now."

What they both saw was Horatio's red hair as he was lying sprawled on his side. "H," Eric screamed as he leaped over the side of the boat and began furiously swimming toward Horatio. As he swam, he thought the way H was lolling with the large piece of fiberglass, he might find him dead.

Grasping the large piece, Eric moved around to where he was closer to Horatio. His heart was in his throat as he reached for Horatio's wrist to check for a pulse. Eric felt again to make certain.

"HE'S ALIVE…FRANK CALL THE SHIP AND TELL THEM WE HAVE A SURVIVOR!" Frank felt weak momentarily as he clutched the side of the boat and then with shaky hands he highlighted the last number received in his phone and relayed the message.

The small boat quickly made its way toward Horatio and Coast Guard divers jumped into the water joining Eric to rescue Horatio.

Carefully the men hoisted Horatio, strapped on a body board, onto the small boat and then whisked him toward the large Coast Guard cutter and a waiting helicopter. Eric swam back to Frank and the boat.

Frank grabbed Eric and bear hugged him, not caring that he got soaking wet. Eric returned his hug. "He's…he's alive," Frank kept shouting and Eric was shouting with him, until they realized how they must look and both stepped back grinning.

"But, Frank he's injured pretty bad…and his pulse is weak," Eric said as his face turned serious.

"He's alive though Delko…he'll at least have a chance!"

"C'mon, let's get this boat back and rid ourselves of the goon and head to Miami-Dade," Eric smiled at his friend. Both men felt tremendous relief, but in the back of their minds, they also realized Horatio was not out of trouble yet.

Eric and Frank walked into the trauma center hoping to find out something about Horatio, but the doctors and nurses were extremely busy; they caught a glimpse of Alexx, as she ran out from behind the nurse's desk carrying tubing, before slipping into a trauma room. They waited until Alexx emerged from where she had disappeared a few minutes ago.

"Alexx," Eric called. Alexx looked up to see both men standing with concerned faces and she took a minute and walked over to them.

"How's Horatio?"

Alexx looked at them with a serious expression and answered, "He's not doing too good right now Sugar, but we're doing everything we can. If we can get his blood pressure to stay up and he remains stable, he'll be taken into surgery to repair the damage to his leg from the gunshot wound. But he's so damaged inside…, that's our main concern," looking down and shaking her head, she then looked back up into their eyes and reiterated, "we're doing all we can…."

Eric hung his head, trying to overcome a bad feeling he had in the pit of his stomach, but Frank tersely commented, "H is a fighter…he's strong…he wants to live, I know he does for Kyle and for Calleigh."

"He needs to fight like he's never fought before," Alexx added before telling them she needed to get back and they should go wait with Kyle and Calleigh.

Hours went by as they all were waiting to hear news about Horatio's status after surgery. Kyle received calls all throughout the surgery, giving him updates on Horatio's condition, which helped everyone's anxiety a little.

Then later, Alexx walked through the door into the room. As she scanned all their anticipating faces she told them, "He made it. He's on a ventilator right now to help him breathe and allow his body to rest; now all we can do is to wait and make sure he doesn't begin hemorrhaging internally." A somewhat collective sigh of relief went up from the group on the news. Calleigh shed silent tears as she thought of Horatio lying in ICU, alone."

Kyle asked, "Dr. Woods, can I see him?" Normally this was not allowed with a patient in Horatio's critical condition, but she saw the anxiousness on Kyle's face and answered,

"For only a minute Kyle…c'mon I'll take you to him."

As they walked, Alexx explained how Horatio was going to have a tube down his throat, and other tubes going in and out of him while he would be surrounded by beeping and hissing machines. As they stepped through the opening into the room where his dad lay in a bed, nothing could have prepared him for the sight. He had seen him in ICU before, but not like this.

Slowly he walked to his dad's side and touched his arm. Then Kyle leaned over and got closer to his face and softly whispered, "Fight this dad; come back to us. I need you; so many other people need you; Calleigh needs you most of all, she loves you dad, don't leave her now." He bent down and kissed his father's cheek. Alexx looked over at the heart rate machine and noticed Horatio's numbers came up a bit. Smiling she thought the visit did both of them some good.

In the early hours of the next morning, Calleigh persuaded the doctor on rounds to help her get a wheelchair and have someone take her to ICU. She wasn't going to let a silly ole lung stop her from being beside the love of her life when he needed her touch.

She had fortified herself for the sight of him being connected to numerous machines, but it broke her heart when she actually arrived in the room. After dabbing her tears away with a tissue, she reached out and took his hand in hers and held it as she softly spoke to him, encouraging him to get strong, just as he had done for her.

"Handsome, you need to get well…you have a wedding to go to," she tried to chuckle, but her tears choked the laughter back.

Three days later -

Horatio and Calleigh were waltzing around the dance floor, holding tight to each other as the beautiful music played.

"_Are you happy Calleigh?"_

"_I am very happy Handsome," she smiled radiantly as she saw the sparkle in his blue eyes. He loved the sound of her voice…so sweet he thought; it warmed him to his soul._

It was all so real, then suddenly reality came crashing through and the happy moment quickly disappeared. Horatio's eyes flew open and he was alarmed that he couldn't breathe, he felt as if he were suffocating and began flailing his arms as alarms were sounding all around him._ What was going on…what was wrong with him_? He thought.

Nurses came running and were trying to hold his arms down so he wouldn't tear out his IV line and other tubes going in and out of his body. The doctor on duty, followed by Alexx Woods ran to Horatio's side and she saw the alarm in his wide open eyes.

"Horatio…Sugar…calm down. Everything is ok. You're in a hospital, on a ventilator to help you breathe. You need to stop moving around Horatio…that tube is going to damage your airway."

The other doctor ordered a sedative to help calm Horatio down. In less than a minute after injecting the medication into Horatio's IV line, he relaxed back down into the bed continuing to look at Alexx.

"Horatio, you just rest and get well. Calleigh is doing real good…she wants you to feel better as well. She has been here with you more than I think is good for her, but no one has been able to convince her that she needs to stay in bed. Everyone is fine Horatio…just relax and let yourself heal." Horatio closed his eyes and thought of Calleigh.

Six months later –

As they moved around the dance floor to the song, _The Wonder of You_, Horatio leaned down to her ear and whispered, "Are you happy Calleigh?"

Smiling radiantly at him she answered, "Very happy." They continued dancing until right before the song ended, Horatio stopped and took Calleigh in his arms and placed a passionate kiss on her lips, then he placed his forehead on hers and whispered, "I want to spend the rest of my life with you Sweetheart, I love you so much," then the song was finished and everyone clapped and cheered the beautiful couple.

Natalia leaned over to Alexx and said, "I'm so happy for them…they deserve a happy life together."

Alexx, never taking her eyes off of the couple agreed, "More than anyone, Nat."

The announcer said, "Now that the bride and groom have had their first dance together, the floor is open."

Alexx walked up and hugged each of them, brushing a happy tear off her cheek, "You both look so much in love…I'm so glad this day came for you both."

"Thanks to you Alexx," Calleigh answered.

Horatio hugged Calleigh close and responded, "That's right my friend…you helped this to happen, thank you," and then gave Alexx a heartfelt hug.

"Now you're going to make me start bawling all over again," Alexx admonished chuckling. They all began laughing.

All of the team came to them and each one hugged Horatio and Calleigh conveying their good wishes.

Eric was the last one and as he hugged Calleigh he said, "I really am happy for you Cal…take good care of him, he's a great guy." Horatio smiled and looked down bashfully.

"Horatio is very special," Calleigh replied looking at her husband. "Thank you Eric, we're going to take care of each other."

"H," Eric said as they shook hands then hugged. "I'm glad you're happy again."

"Thank you Eric, I am…very much."

Kyle hugged Calleigh and she whispered, "Thanks Kyle for helping to get us together." Kyle leaned back and smiled happily at her replying, "Welcome to our family, Calleigh."

Then Kyle and his Dad bear hugged each other as both were trying hard to contain their tears.

"You guys have a great time…forget about everything and relax,"

"We plan to Son." Samantha hugged both next and wished them well.

Horatio and Calleigh finished their good-byes and ran through the cloud of birdseed to the waiting limousine to whisk them away to start their life together. Stopping at their home to change clothes, the limo carried them on to the marina and a waiting boat. As Horatio steered the boat out of the marina, he was suddenly reminded of a few months ago when he was headed toward Scarpella. He closed his eyes and pushed the memory out of his mind. Calleigh noticed his serious look and asked,

"Are you ok, Handsome?"

Horatio took in a deep breath and answered, "I'm wonderful Sweetheart."

Just before sunset, they arrived at their private island Horatio had rented for two weeks. As they walked up to the beautiful house, surrounded by a large deck overlooking the ocean, Horatio took Calleigh in his arms and kissed her passionately, then when they pulled back and looked into each other's eyes, he softly said,

"After we watch the sunset from the deck, what do you say about starting our family Sweetheart?"

"I'd say I would love to Handsome," as she nuzzled his neck. Then they walked with their arms around each other to the house.

**THE END**

**A/N: Thank you to all my reviewers, readers and visitors! I still can't kill Horatio off! Soon, I plan to write a sequel to this story about their life after the wedding, and the happiness they share. Perhaps there are those who would like a happy story after this! I hope you will enjoy it as much.**


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